Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 20 Nov 1996

Vol. 471 No. 7

Written Answers. - Prisoner Transfers.

Dermot Ahern

Ceist:

296 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice if she will review the case of a person (details supplied) in County Louth who, until recently, was serving a prison sentence in Mountjoy Prison but who has been transferred to Rathmore Road, Cork, and who did not properly understand the fact that he had an option to go to Loughnan House; if she will take into account the difficulty of family visits to the Cork prison due to the distance from the family home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21603/96]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

The management of an individual prisoner's sentence sometimes necessitates transfers between the various prisons and places of detention. These transfers take place for operational reasons.

The person concerned was offered a transfer to Loughan House, an open centre in County Cavan, where he would have benefited from half remission. He refused to go there and was subsequently transferred to Cork Prison for operational reasons.

I can inform the Deputy that the prisoner in question has now been transferred to Shelton Abbey, an open centre in County Wicklow.