Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When discussing these issues we need to be measured in our use of language. The term “internment” applies to the mass arrest of a large number of people in 1971 who were taken into custody without committing any offence and against whom no charge was brought. They were held for a very long period. This is not comparing like with like. We are dealing in these cases with individuals against whom there were convictions, who were released on licence, and part of the licence was that they could be re-arrested in certain circumstances. Whether the persons should have been re-arrested is ultimately a matter that must be determined through the processes available to them.

With regard to the conditions in prisons, the running of prisons in Northern Ireland is now a matter that is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Prison Service is responsible for prison conditions. Reforms recommended by Anne Owers have been introduced. I welcome the comments made by the Northern Ireland Prison Service director general, Sue McAllister, that the recommendations of the Owers report are and will remain the key driver for change across the service. The Government fully supports the position as the most effective way to ensure conditions within all prisons in Northern Ireland are of an acceptable standard.

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