Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

One further issue occurs to me regarding these amendments. Buried in the middle of amendment No. 50 in the name of the Minister is a definition of remission from sentence. It states:

"remission from the sentence" means, in relation to the sentence imposed on a person, the remission which he or she may earn from that sentence under the rules or practice whereby prisoners generally may earn remission of sentence by industry and good conduct.

Along with my colleagues in the Fine Gael Party, in particular our leader, Deputy Kenny, I previously raised the one quarter automatic remission of sentences. My recollection is that the Tánaiste's reaction to that approach in the past has been to deride any such suggestion on the basis that to change the automatic remission system would virtually bring the whole prison system down around our ears. The definition which the Minister has proposed to include in the Bill appears to run exactly according to the lines outlined by Fine Gael. Does this signal an end to automatic remission and is it an acceptance of the Fine Gael position? Does it involve an acceptance in statute that a remission in sentence would mean what is stated in the amendment, that "the remission which he or she may earn from that sentence under the rules of practice whereby prisoners generally may earn remission of sentence by industry and good conduct."? Will the Tánaiste clarify the position?

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