Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2015
114. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will clarify who has responsibility for monitoring of adherence to parole conditions in respect of persons who are released from prison early. [33571/15]
View answerAll prisoners released early on temporary release, including those who have been subject to review by the Parole Board, are granted a specific period of reviewable temporary release from prison. This can be at varying intervals, for example, weekly, monthly or annually. The period of release is reviewed when the prisoner returns to prison as part of their conditions and a decision is made whether to refuse or grant a further period of reviewable temporary release.
All those released on temporary release, including those subject to review by the Parole Board, are subject to conditions including a requirement to report on set dates to a Garda Station. An offender who breaches his or her conditions may be arrested and returned to prison immediately by the Gardaí or may be refused another period of reviewable temporary release. Gardaí are notified of all such releases and the conditions of those releases by the Irish Prison Service.
An Garda Síochána may return a prisoner to prison where it is of the view that the prisoner is in breach of their temporary release conditions. When this happens, the Governor will conduct an oral hearing. If the Governor is satisfied, taking into account evidence presented and comments made, that a breach of temporary release conditions has occurred the prisoner is notified accordingly. The reviewable temporary release is then revoked and the prisoner is taken back into custody.
In addition to the monitoring of compliance with conditions by An Garda Síochána, there are different obligations in respect of the supervision of offenders depending on the category of case. For cases which are subject to Court ordered supervision in the community such as part suspended sentence supervision orders or post release supervision orders, the Probation Service engages with those offenders prior to release and supervise them on release, in line with the Court Order.
Also Life sentenced prisoners who are released on temporary release into the community following a recommendation made to me by the Parole Board, continue to serve their sentences and are subject to a number of stringent conditions including supervision by the Probation Service. The Probation Service provides progress reports on a regular basis to the Irish Prison Service in respect of these cases. These reports outline the resettlement and reintegration progress and report any risk management concerns that the offender may present. Where it is reported to the Irish Prison Service that the prisoner in the community is failing to abide by the conditions of their release, that person may be refused a further period of temporary release and be taken back into custody.
