Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

187. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners deemed to have absconded who have not been recaptured in each of the past seven years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23244/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that Irish Prison records indicate that over the past 7 years 61 persons are deemed to have absconded, and that 8 remain unlawfully at large.

The Irish Prison Service defines an absconder as a prisoner who leaves an Open Centre without the relevant approval.

An Garda Síochána are informed when prisoners abscond and they have the power to detain, arrest, and return such persons to prison. Experience has shown that the vast majority of offenders who abscond return voluntarily or are returned to custody to complete their sentences within a short time frame.