Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

No. Up to 36 prisoners are granted temporary release per day which is 0.86% of the average number in custody in April. It is a bit ironic for Deputy Charles Flanagan to criticise these figures considering the figures when his party was last in office.

It has been suggested Ireland's prison statistics are out of line with other countries. In 2008, the prison population was well below the average of any other western European country. I accept the figure may have gone up in the meantime but it is still below the EU average.

Temporary release is used in certain circumstances to allow people to reintegrate into society.

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