Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

This issue was raised by several organisations over the past two weeks in regard to a sexual abuse case. A certain individual had served a full and lengthy sentence but had received remission following the normal procedure.

In the case highlighted this week, Michael O'Neill, one of the four persons convicted of the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and the wounding of Detective Garda Ben O'Sullivan during an attempted robbery in Adare in June 1996, was committed to custody on 20 June 1996 and received an 11-year sentence for manslaughter on 5 February 1999, as well as two concurrent five-year terms for wounding and possession of firearms with intent. He was initially detained in Portlaoise Prison but was moved to Castlerea Prison in 1999, where he remains.

There is no question of this prisoner or any other person convicted in respect of the horrific events in Adare being released ahead of time. Prisoners in this jurisdiction have a statutory entitlement to remission of their sentences, provided they have demonstrated good behaviour. Each and every breach of these rules is punishable by loss of remission, up to a maximum of 14 days. This person was the subject of a single such report during his sentence and has lost a total of 12 days of remission. Therefore, he has not received full remission. In accordance with that, his release date has been set for 17 May 2007. As matters stand, the Prison Service would have no legal authority to detain him beyond that date.

I wish to correct my earlier statement as I am advised by a note that it is statutorily based. I have asked the relevant statute involved but have not got that information.

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