asked the Minister for Justice in relation to the powers conferred on him under the 1960 Criminal Justice Act, section 2, if he will say how many persons have been granted temporary release during the year ended 31 December 1984, from each of the following prisons and places of detention: Mountjoy, Limerick, Cork, Portlaoise, Arbour Hill, St. Patrick's Institution, Shelton Abbey, Shanganagh, The Training Unit, Glengarriff Parade and Loughan House.
Written Answers. - Temporary Prison Release.
374.
Limerick East): Temporary release may be granted for very short periods, sometimes only a matter of hours as might be the case if the release was authorised to enable the prisoner to be present on a family occasion. I assume that the question is not intended to relate to short periods of release and as it happens, ascertaining the precise figure for them would take up a substantial amount of staff time.
Under the section referred to, prisoners may also be given what is called full temporary release, which effectively means that he need not, provided he abides by the conditions of his release, return to prison. The figures for such releases in 1984 are: Mountjoy (Male) — 900; Mountjoy (Female) — 46; Limerick (Male) — 49; Limerick (Female) — 34; Cork — 385; Portlaoise — 69; Arbour Hill — 25; St. Partick's Institution — 378; Shelton Abbey — 94; Shanganagh Castle — 203; Training Unit — 174; Loughan House — 247. Of those granted full temporary release a total of 684 were released under the supervision of the probation and welfare service.