Deputy McGahon gave me notice of this intention to raise the subject matter of the reason permission was refused to a prisoner in Portlaoise Prison to attend his mother's funeral. Deputy McGahon has five minutes to present his case and the Minister has five minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - Refusal of Compassionate Leave to Prisoner.
I should like to thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for selecting this question and giving me the opportunity to speak on this matter. While it will not help this particular young man's situation it might, with the Minister's help, enable prisoners who are caught in the same situation, to attend their mother's funeral.
The person to whom I am referring is a 26 year old Dundalk man, Brian McShane, who is serving a life sentence for the very serious crime of murder. He was convicted with four other people for his involvement in the Drumree robbery and murder. He was a boy of 20 years of age when he was seduced into the evil IRA organisation, perhaps he was terrorised into joining them. As a person who believes in the hard-line treatment of criminals, I have no reservations about the sentence or its severity. He is rightly serving a life sentence in Portlaoise Prison.
One week before the sad and sudden death of his mother he had disassociated himself from the IRA group within the prison, an act which required courage. It was not a ploy because of the possibility of his mother's death as his mother was in perfect health although, sadly, she died suddenly a week after he had made that decision.
That young man should have been allowed out to pay his last respects to his mother even if his movements had been restricted by a ball and chain. He should have been allowed to attend his mother's funeral. Every person in jail in this country, particularly those within the jurisdiction, should have that basic civil right, even though they have transgressed against society, sometimes in a dreadful manner. We have a caring society which accepts that people who commit murder will be allowed out some day, will be able to re-enter society and pick up the threads of their life.
This young lad took a definite step away from terrorism but his request to attend his mother's funeral was cruelly denied. Indeed, I understand that the prison authorities, who had shown him every courtesy, had him handcuffed to a warden waiting for the signal to go and then they got a telephone call to the effect that he would not be allowed out. I understand — and I believe — that many people in similar situations were allowed out to funerals and one of the people convicted of the Mountbatten killing, a heninous crime, was let out on compassionate leave to attend the funeral of a parent.
There was a wrong decision in this case and it was a manifestation of cold, bureaucratic indifference which has no room for compassion. It certainly will not contribute to this young man's rehabilitation. In any dealings I have had with the Minister, Deputy Burke, I found him to be very practical, helpful and straightforward. However, somebody erred in this case. Are we really serious about rehabilitation? Is there a serious rehabilitation programme within the prison system? If a prisoner turns away from a terrorist group, is there a matching, sympathetic commitment from the Department of Justice? Was the refusal to allow this young man out an interference with somebody's weekend or a game of golf?
I must now call the Minister to reply.
Will the Minister look seriously at the possibility of letting everybody in similar circumstances out to attend the funeral of a close relative?
In my reply to parliamentary question No. 75 of 27 February last I informed the House that each application for temporary release on compassionate grounds is considered on its individual merits. I indicated that regard is had to the circumstances giving rise to the application and factors such as the nature of the offence, length of sentence served, behaviour while in custody, the previous record of the offender, the possible risk which a release may pose and the likelihood of an offender returning to prison on the expiration of the period of release. I also indicated that I was satisfied that the arrangements for dealing with applications for release on compassionate grounds struck the right balance between the need to attempt to respond in a humane way to such applications while at the same time minimise the risk to the community.
There are obvious constraints on what a Minister for Justice can, with propriety, say publicly about the administration of an individual prisoner's sentence. However, given the matters raised by the Deputy, I think it only right to confirm that on 28 March 1985 the prisoner in question was found guilty of the capital murder of a member of the Garda Síochána and sentenced to death. On 21 February 1986 the President, on the advice of the Government, commuted the sentence of death to one of penal servitude for 40 years. The prisoner referred to by the Deputy has served less than five years of the commuted sentence and is not due for release until 2026.
I can assure the House that in considering applications for compassionate parole where the grounds are the death of a close relative I adopt as sympathetic an approach as possible. However, having considered this case under the criteria which I outlined earlier, and having particular regard to the nature of the crime and the fact that the prisoner's sentence does not expire for another 35 years, I reluctantly concluded that the balance of the public interest did not lie with authorising a period of compassionate parole in this case. Previous Ministers for Justice have come to the same conclusion in similar cases.
When turning down this prisoner's application, I at the same time authorised, as an exceptional measure, a special visit from relatives for the prisoner. This offer has been taken up and the visit will take place shortly in the more relaxed environment of the prison service training centre which is near Portlaoise Prison. The prisoner will be able to spend a number of hours with his relatives and arrangements will be made for refreshments to be available. The general intention is to enable the prisoner and his relatives to express their grief together in as comfortable an environment as possible while at the same time having due regard to security requirements. I believe that authorising this visit was a reasonable attempt to go as far as I could to meet the compassionate considerations which clearly arose.
I accept, of course, that the Deputy would not wish in any way to minimise the gravity of the offence committed by the prisoner — even though in the past we have profoundly disagreed on the nature of the penalty which should be imposed in such cases.