Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Senator Tuffy wants to delete words which refer to classes of persons. I can reassure her that it is not the intention of this provision in the Bill to restore the old system of automatic or blanket refusal of particular categories of offender. The Senator expressed a concern that, due to prejudicial reporting of particular types of offence, the Minister might be so minded under these rules to formulate rules which would expressly exclude a whole category of offenders from consideration for temporary release. That is not the intention behind this part of the Bill. The intention is to allow the Minister prescribe rules on the conditions which can be imposed on persons granted temporary release. For example, standard rules apply requiring a person to keep the peace, be of good behaviour and of sober habits, during the period of release. That is a particular standard condition and the Minister can specify for that to be applied to classes of persons under these rules.

The second part provides that prisoners being released may have conditions attached to their release which are specific to certain types of offender. An example would be an attachment of a condition of curfew to the temporary release of a juvenile offender but I stress that such a condition will in no way impinge on the fact that each case will be taken on individual merits. It is not the intention of this Bill to reinstate powers to exclude categories of offender from temporary release. The subsection as now drafted allows for a more efficient, clear and effective way of operating the system of temporary release and provides for a regime of standard, as well as specific, conditions to be applied.

The proposed amendment would take away from the efficiency and clarity of the proposal. The provision envisages both standard conditions, such as to be of good behaviour and keep the peace, and that conditions can be specified for classes of offenders, for example, for juvenile offenders that a particular curfew is observed. That is all that is envisaged.