Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Amendment No. 35 seeks to delete "notify the governor of his or her intention to" because this phrase infers no duty on the prisoner and introduces confusion in the context of the steps which must be taken for an appeal to be lodged. Amendment No. 36 allows the prisoner to make an appeal directly, which I understand to be the Minister's intention. Amendment No. 37 then allows the prisoner to inform the governor of his or her decision to lodge an appeal. It is only right that a prisoner should be able to lodge an appeal directly to the appeals tribunal and there does not appear to be any logical reason he or she should have to appeal through the governor. These amendments also prevent any situation arising whereby a governor might try to obstruct an appeal. Acceptance of these amendments would require deletion of subsection (2), which is provided for in amendment No. 38.

Amendments Nos. 39 and 40 are mutually dependent. Legal aid should be granted to prisoners in the usual manner and there is no need for the Minister to interfere.