I propose to take Questions Nos. 318 and 320 together.
Applications for transfer to an alternate facility within the prison estate on health, humanitarian or other grounds are received primarily on the recommendation of the Prison Governor or the therapeutic services in the prisons. The prisoner, their family or their legal representative can also apply for consideration of such a request.
As a guiding principle the Irish Prison Service attempts to place prisoners in the location nearest to their family home. This principle is of course subject to appropriate security considerations, operational and legislative requirements. Factors taken into account include length of sentence, nature of offence, medical needs, drug dependency, conflict with other prisoners, behaviour while in custody, the age of the prisoner, previous criminal record, engagement with the various services and of course available spaces.
Applications for transfer on health grounds are not recorded individually as there may be a multiplicity of reasons for such transfers, therefore it is not possible to provide the Deputy with the breakdown of information requested, as this would require the manual examination of records. Such an examination would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort and cannot be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources