Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 298: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the circumstances under which remission of sentence is granted to male and female prisoners; if he proposes to change the period of remission from a quarter to one third; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5768/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The majority of prisoners, both male and female, are eligible to earn remission of 25% of their sentence by good conduct. The position is that provided the conduct of the prisoner is not found in disciplinary proceedings to warrant loss of remission, the prisoner will be deemed to have earned 25% remission. Where a sanction of loss of remission is imposed, the period forfeited may be restored through subsequent good conduct. The use of remission in this way is tried and tested and has proved to be an important tool in the good management of our prisons.

Certain categories of prisoner are excluded from standard remission of sentence under the Prison Rules and these are as follows:

Life sentence prisoners

Persons convicted of debtor offences

Persons convicted of contempt of court

Persons being held on remand warrants

Persons serving a sentence of less than one month.

Section 59(2) of the Prison Rules, 2007 already allows for the discretionary granting of additional remission, up to one third as opposed to the standard rate of one quarter, where a prisoner has shown further good conduct through his engagement in authorised structured activity and where as a result, the prisoner is less likely to re-offend and will be better able to reintegrate into the community.

I can advise the Deputy that this additional concession will only be awarded in exceptional cases and where I am satisfied beyond any doubt that the prisoner concerned has demonstrated that she/he meets the requirements as set out in the Prison Rules. While there have been a number of applications for extra remission to date only one prisoner has been granted this concession.