Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a good question, in which the Deputy has had an interest for some time. The matter of prisoners' rights was not discussed, either in the plenary sessions or the discussions with the individual parties on Thursday and Friday. This is not to say it has not been discussed in the past ten weeks with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan; the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, although I cannot confirm this. Thursday and Friday's discussions were about the broader political issues. This is an important issue in its own right and I will have it pursued for the Deputy. I will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to confirm whether discussions about it took place in the past ten weeks and, if not, I will ask him to take it up directly with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

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