Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 April 2010
170 Deputy Paul Connaughton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons who have been convicted of murder and who are out on parole up to 31 December 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17397/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information being provided to the Deputy relates to persons sentenced to life imprisonment who are still under sentence. It is not feasible to identity all convictions for murders since the foundation of the State. However the vast majority of those who receive a life sentence do so for the offence of murder. A life sentence is mandatory in the case of a conviction for murder and persons who are made subject to a life sentence remains subject to that sentence for their life.
Specific legislation enacted by the Oireachtas — the Criminal Justice Act, 1960 and the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act, 2003 — provide a mechanism whereby the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, may release prisoners on temporary release for such period of time and subject to strict conditions as may be specified. Temporary release may be granted on a range of grounds including humanitarian or where the Minister is of the view that the person has worked with all available services to aid his/her rehabilitation and reintegration back to the community. However, before any such decision is reached matters such as the gravity of the offence, the period of imprisonment served, the overall conduct of the prisoner during imprisonment and the potential threat to the safety and security of the public are considered. Prisoners who are deemed to continue to pose a threat to the community if released continue to remain in prison. Indeed there are some prisoners who have been in custody for over 30 years.
I should also add that all prisoners serving a life sentence are eligible to have their case reviewed by the Parole Board when they have served seven years into the life sentence. The Board, following consideration of the individual case, make recommendations to the Minister as to how the individual's sentence should be managed. Generally speaking life sentenced prisoners are reviewed on a number of occasions before any substantive recommendations are made to me which might lead to the eventual extended temporary release of the individual back to the community to continue to serve his/her sentence, subject to a range of strict conditions. Having put the provisions applicable to life sentences in context let me tell the Deputy, in response to his specific question, that on 31 December 2009 there were 266 persons in custody serving life sentences. In addition 60 persons were under the supervision of the Probation Service on extended temporary release pursuant to the 1960 Act. Some of these persons were first released into the community over 30 years ago.
Of the 60 life sentence prisoners currently under supervision in the community, a total of 11 of these were granted temporary release during the time period 2004 to date. The average time spent in custody by these persons over this 6 year period is 17 years. This compares to an average of just over 7 1/2 years for releases dating from 1975 to 1984, just under 12 years for the period dating from 1985 to 1994 and just under 14 years for the period dating from 1995 to 2004. As is clear from these figures life sentence prisoners are serving longer terms in custody. I trust that these figures will dispel any notion that this category of prisoner spends anything other than a significant period of time in custody for the serious and heinous crimes they have committed.
