Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the arrangement for the transfer of a prisoner between Britain and Ireland who has been made subject of orders under mental health legislation in either jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42489/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Council of Europe 1983 Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides a mechanism whereby prisoners sentenced in the United Kingdom may be returned to Ireland in order to serve their sentences. The Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts 1995 and 1997 provide a legislative basis for this Convention in Ireland. Under the Acts, a sentence is defined as any punishment or measure involving a deprivation of liberty ordered by a court or tribunal for a limited or unlimited period of time on account of the commission of an offence. A sentenced person is defined as anyone on whom a sentence has been imposed in the territory of a Convention state. Each transfer is subject to the consent of both states and the individual concerned. There is no obligation on any state to agree to a transfer.

Without a specific case to refer to, it is difficult to comment on the transfer of prisoners suffering from mental illness. Cases of this nature would require individual assessment. However, the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, 2006 and in particular section 15, provides a mechanism whereby a prisoner suffering from a mental illness can be transferred from a prison in this state to a designated centre under the Act. Currently the only designated centre is the Central Mental Hospital at Dundrum in Dublin. The Act provides that a transfer can be made following an assessment by a registered medical practitioner or approved medical officer with the agreement of the prisoner. Where the prisoner does not agree to be transferred, the transfer may still proceed where two medical practitioners or approved medical officers are of the view it is in the best interests of the individual in question.