Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 19 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 5

Written Answers - Prisoner Transfers.

Joe Costello

Ceist:

217 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of prisoners seeking repatriation from Britain; the number who have been repatriated since the transfer of sentenced persons legislation was enacted; the number of people working on the transfers in her Department; the average length of time required to process a transfer application; and when the next transfer is due to take place. [7579/97]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

A total of 140 persons who are serving sentences in the United Kingdom have applied or expressed an interest in transferring into this jurisdiction, to date, under the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. Sixty-five applications have been formally transmitted by the UK authorities. Additional applications will be forwarded in due course. The status of the applications transmitted to date is set out in the following tabular statement.

Number of formal applications received	65
Number of applications withdrawn	1
Number of applications refused by the Minister	1
Number of applications consented to by the Minister	23
Number of applicants since transferred back to the State	8
Number of applications resolved without transfer (e.g. died, escaped, released, etc.)	8
Number of applications still under examination (i.e. almost ready for submission to the Minister; with the Chief State Solicitor's Office; referred back to the Home Office for additional information or the Department is querying a particular aspect of the application).	31

As the Deputy is aware, under the terms of the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, the two states involved in processing a transfer request are required to exchange information about the sentenced person. This information includes a copy of the judgment and the law on which it is based, sentence administration particulars and medical/ social reports. These must be obtained from a number of different sources. Owing to the complexity of the documentation required and the fact that each case is considered on its individual and particular merits, the processing of some cases can take some considerable time. The length of time is also influenced by the complex but necessary procedures and requirements that have their roots in the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons itself and, to an extent in our legislation.

Several officials at clerical, executive and management levels in my Department are involved at different stages in the processing of transfer applications to and from this jurisdiction. These officials are all engaged in other important work as well. I can assure the Deputy that all of them give very high priority to this work.

More transfers are expected soon.