Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 578: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures in place to ensure that families are informed of the transfer of their family member; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34869/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that every effort is made to inform the prisoner's family if the prisoner is transferred.

It should be noted that all prisoners have an allocated amount of phone calls per week and have the option of contacting family members if they so wish. As is the current practice in relation to the prisoner visitor system all persons nominated to the prisoner's visitor panel are asked to provide a contact number whereby they can be informed of events that may see the prisoner transferred from that prison. Not all panel members will provide these details.

The Director General of the Irish Prison Service is currently exploring the possibility of implementing a formal protocol in the near future to deal with this issue.