Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

As I outlined to the House in relation to the last amendment, to insert this paragraph in the relevant section would be to give the Minister a reason to refuse to make a direction. Apart from that, I take it that the substance of the amendment is to ensure that the Minister would not rule out temporary release solely because of the element of risk. The difficulty is that by its nature, temporary release, even with conditions attached, always involves some element of risk. These risks can be obviated by attaching conditions, but in this context there is the whole extension of trust to a prisoner. It is in reaction to that trust that the Minister makes a decision and the Prison Service authorities consider whether further concessions which may help to reintegrate the prisoner can be granted. The Minister has the responsibility to seek to minimise the risk as much as possible with the attachment of conditions which are suitable. That is the reason the considerations taken into account by the Minister are so important. The primary concern regarding temporary release is the safety of the public, including the victim. As I stated on Committee Stage, this amendment is already covered by subsection (2)(i) which provides that the Minister can direct the temporary release of a person subject to such conditions as may be specified. Under the terms of the temporary release, these can be standard conditions which apply to all persons or specific conditions relative to the person concerned. I would be worried that if certain conditions were specifically stated in the legislation, as is proposed, the effect would be to limit the Minister's powers in this regard.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.