Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 February 2017
106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners that were entitled to early release in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8002/17]
View answer107. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners that may have an entitlement but were refused early release in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8003/17]
View answer108. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners that benefited from early release in the past 12 months; the number that reoffended and which were subsequently returned or not returned in the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8004/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 106 to 108, inclusive, together.
I wish to inform the Deputy that there is no entitlement to temporary or early release for prisoners. Each application for early or Temporary Release is considered on its individual merits and a number of factors are taken into account when making a decision including the nature of the offence, whether or not the person is a first-time offender and whether the person poses a threat to public safety.
The Deputy may be aware that periods of Temporary Release granted can vary greatly from a few hours following a family bereavement to, for example, a requirement to report to the prison every 12 months.
I can advise the Deputy that provisional figures for 2016 show a total of 7,935 prisoners were granted Full or Reviewable temporary release in the period 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016. A significant number of these, 7,117, refer to persons imprisoned for very short periods for non-payment of fines, who were granted early release shortly thereafter. The Irish Prison Service publishes figures in relation to the number of prisoners currently on temporary release on their website www.irishprisons.ie on a daily basis. I can advise the Deputy that the number of prisoners on temporary release on 14 February 2017 was 241 which represented approximately 6% of the overall prison population.
Finally, I am advised by my officials in the Prison Service that the details regarding re-offending by prisoners granted temporary release in 2016 are not available. Of course, any offender who breaches his or her temporary release conditions may be arrested and returned to prison immediately by the Gardaí and/or may be refused another period of temporary release.
