Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 11 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 3

Written Answers. - Prisoner Releases.

Seán Power

Ceist:

349 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners who will be on temporary release for Christmas 2001; the number of prisoners who will remain in prison for Christmas 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31950/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

Officials from my Department are currently in the process of conducting Christmas reviews and, as such, the figures requested by the Deputy are not yet available. However, I propose to issue a press statement nearer to Christmas on this matter once final figures are available.

The Deputy may be interested in figures for recent years. In 2000 about 250 prisoners were granted varying periods of temporary release at Christmas under the Criminal Justice Act, 1960. This was roughly 8% of the prisoner population. The corresponding numbers released for Christmas in 1999 and 1998 were 303 and 282, respectively.

Many of the prisoners who will be released are nearing the end of their sentences while others will be serving relatively short sentences. The overriding concern, in considering applications for Christmas release from prisoners, is the safety of the public. In addition to compassionate and humane considerations, other criteria taken into account include the nature and gravity of the offence, length of sentence served to date, prior record on temporary release, if any, and previous criminal history.

The periods of release granted generally vary from a few hours, in some cases accompanied by another responsible person or, exceptionally, under escort, up to two weeks. All releases are subject to stringent conditions, which in the vast majority of cases includes a requirement to report on a regular basis to his or her local Garda station. Any offender who breaks these conditions may be arrested and returned immediately to prison by the Garda.