Vol. 521 No. 2
147 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of convicted persons on temporary early release from prison at present; and the number who are under the supervision of the probation and welfare service or the Garda while on such release. [16819/00]
There were 245 offenders on temporary release on Friday, 9 June 2000. This represented 7.5% of the total number serving a sentence on that day. As a direct consequence of the ongoing prison building programme, there has been a significant reduction in the proportion on temporary release of the total number of persons serving sentences from 19.2% in May 1997 to 7.5% in June 2000. Prisoners are granted temporary release for a variety of reasons ranging from a few hours to attend a funeral to early release which is in effect our system of parole.
The number of offenders on temporary release who are under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service at present is 73. The majority of these are long-term prisoners or lifers who, over the years, would have been subject to review before being approved for temporary release under supervision. If temporary release is granted, it is always subject to conditions. In all cases temporary release is conditional on good behaviour. Other conditions generally include reporting at regular intervals to a Garda station.
Before granting temporary release careful consideration is given to a number of factors including the nature and seriousness of the offence, previous record, behaviour in custody, length of sentence served and any compassionate grounds which merit special consideration. The overriding concern when decisions are made is the safety of the public. Every effort is made where possible to plan structured temporary releases for resocialisation purposes and to allow the reintegration of offenders into the community.
