The main provisions of the Bill are contained in section 1 which amends the Criminal Justice Act 1960 by inserting a new section 2 into that Act. The new section 2(1) provides that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform can direct the temporary release of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment. Subsection (11) makes it clear that imprisonment includes detention in St. Patrick's Institution and in detention centres provided for in the Prisons Act 1970.