John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

The only persons this Bill affects are people who are already in custody. They are either a prisoner or a person who is already lawfully in custody of the Garda. The Bill, as I already stated, does not create some new form of custody. If the person concerned is a prisoner, then he or she remains subject to and under the protection of the existing prison rules and regulations. If the person concerned is in the custody of the Garda, then he or she is subject to the Garda custody rules and regulations, notwithstanding the fact that he or she is deemed to be in the custody of another body. Also, as mentioned previously, the Minister may make regulations which may differ from those rules and regulations, if required. Given the fact that custody is being transferred temporarily from one body to another, it may be appropriate that specific records in that regard may be required. However, that does not create new custody. The person is either a prisoner or a person in lawful custody of the Garda and the rules and regulations to which I referred previously would be binding in that regard.