Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress which has been made in the application for repatriation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3499/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not received a formal application for a transfer to this country in respect of this person from the United States authorities.

An expression of interest for transfer to a prison in this country from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in my Department on 23 August 2004. In line with the convention, my Department wrote to the US Department of Justice on 24 August 2004, requesting that it commence processing this individual's application.

The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons requires extensive documentation to be exchanged between both jurisdictions in order to allow an application to be fully considered. A three way consent is also required to enable any transfer to take place, that is, from the authorities of both jurisdictions and from the person concerned. In this regard, the US authorities informed my Department in May 2005 that they were not inclined to act favourably on the transfer request at that time. As such, it was not possible for my Department to process this individual's application any further.