Written answers

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Temporary Release of Prisoners

9:00 am

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 364: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons currently on temporary release from prison; the offences for which those persons currently on temporary release were convicted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20507/10]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 365: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons who were given early release from prison in the past 24 months; the offences for which these persons given early release were convicted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20508/10]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 364 and 365 together.

I wish to inform the Deputy that on 17 May 2010 there were 859 prisoners on temporary release. With the exception of certain categories of prisoner, most notably those serving life sentences, all prisoners are entitled to remission of their sentence at a rate of 25% of the term they have been sentenced to. It is not possible to provide figures and a breakdown of offences to the Deputy as requested as this would require the manual examination of records going back over a considerable time period. Such an examination would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort and could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.

The Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003 provides that the Minister may approve the temporary release of a sentenced prisoner. This discretionary instrument assists in gradually preparing suitable offenders for release, in administering short sentences, in addressing humanitarian issues and can be an incentive to well-behaved prisoners. It should be noted that a prisoner on temporary release is still subject to his or her sentence and may be returned to prison without any court intervention.

Temporary release arrangements are an important vehicle for re-integrating an offender into the community in a planned way. The generally accepted view is that the risk to the community is reduced by planned re-integration of offenders compared with their return to the community on the completion of their full sentence. Each case is examined on its own merits and the safety of the public is paramount when decisions are made. In addition, all releases are subject to conditions, which in the vast majority of cases include a requirement to report on a regular basis to the offender's Garda Station. Of course, any offender who breaches his or her conditions may be arrested and returned to prison immediately by the Gardaí.

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