Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made in the implementation of the key recommendations contained within the Flood Report on Irish Prisoners abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40696/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Flood Report, which was commissioned by my predecessor, is a seminal study into the needs of Irish Prisoners overseas. It will serve as the template for future Government action in this area for many years to come. On 21 October in the Seanad, I outlined some of the measures we have already taken to implement its key recommendations.

One of the principal elements in the Report was the need to quantify the number of Irish prisoners overseas and to establish an up to date register of those Irish imprisoned abroad. The Flood Report also recommended that prisoners overseas should have a visit once a year and more often than that, if circumstances required. Those recommendations have been accepted and the Department has recently begun work to install the appropriate equipment in the Department's IT system. This new software system will allow the Department to compile an electronic register of Irish prisoners overseas and monitor their status.

The Report also recommended the establishment of a hardship fund to assist prisoners and their families in cases of particular difficulty. Earlier this year, I provided €30,000 to the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas to assist in this respect. This is in addition to the €222,000 provided in core funding for the ICPO.

The recommendation that Irish Embassies and Consulates have available lists of English speaking lawyers and provide advice on local legal systems to prisoners and their families has already been implemented.

In addition, as recommended in the Flood Report, the Irish Government has recently appointed Honorary Consuls in places where there is no permanent official Irish diplomatic representation, including Agadir in Morocco, Harare in Zimbabwe, Tbilisi in Georgia, Cancun in Mexico, as well as the re-opening of Honorary Consulates Jakarta in Indonesia and Sao Paolo in Brazil.

Other issues were also examined by the report, including "miscarriages of justice" and the recommendation that the Government "seek to block forced repatriation to Ireland". Earlier this year, I agreed to the provision of a financial contribution to the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO), headed by Paddy Hill, one of the former Birmingham Six. In 2007, an Agreement was concluded between the Irish and British Governments that removes the threat of forced expulsion of Irish prisoners from Britain, something which had caused considerable unease among Irish families settled in Britain.

Finally the Flood Report measured the Irish Consular system in this area against other comparable countries and I am pleased to report that we stood up very well in comparison.