Written answers

Tuesday, 3 October 2006

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Prisoner Releases

9:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 266: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners granted early release without having served their full sentences in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31070/06]

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The precise information requested by the Deputy is not readily available. The compilation of these statistics would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort to prepare and could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.

Typically the temporary releases would be of short duration when the prisoner is close to completion of sentence. From time to time, consideration may be given to a somewhat longer period of release for the purposes of residential addiction counselling or for other constructive programmes, for example work training. In these cases, the aim is to reduce the risk of reoffending. Temporary release, which is always conditional on the prisoner's good behaviour, is recognised as being a useful instrument in preparing a prisoner for reintegration with society.

As a result of the additional prison spaces provided over the last number of years, the Prison Service is now in a position to accommodate almost all those sentenced by the Courts for the full duration of their sentences. The overall percentage of sentenced prisoners on temporary release has been reduced from a figure of 20% in December, 1996 to a current figure of about 4.7% of the total prison population. To illustrate the scale of the problem, I can inform the House that the actual number of prisoners on temporary release on 9 December, 1996 stood at 552, compared with a current figure of 156 persons.

Prisoners are not granted early release as a matter of course and I must stress that the overriding concern in considering applications for temporary release from prisoners is the safety of the public. It is also important to note that all releases are subject to conditions, which in the vast majority of cases include a requirement to report on a regular basis to his/her local Garda station, and that any offender who breaks these conditions may be arrested and returned immediately to prison by the Gardaí.

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