Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a person from this State and serving a prison sentence in Northern Ireland can apply under the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act 1995 to serve the prison sentence in this jurisdiction; the conditions under which such an application can be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27251/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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338. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a person who is Irish and lives ordinarily in Northern Ireland and is serving a prison sentence in Northern Ireland can apply under the Transfer of Sentenced Person Act 1995 to serve the prison sentence in this jurisdiction on the basis of their Irish citizenship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27252/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 338 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the Council of the Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides a procedural framework for such transfers and seeks to provide a simple and relatively expeditious mechanism whereby the repatriation of sentenced persons may take place.

The Convention sets out six conditions which must be fulfilled if a transfer is to be affected and these conditions were transposed into national law in the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts, 1995 and 1997. It is of course open to an Irish person serving a sentence in Northern Ireland to apply for a transfer under the Acts. However, it should be noted that even where all of the conditions are satisfied, there is no obligation on a State to comply with a transfer request.

As the Deputy may be aware, in 2014 a High Court judgement relating to the transfer of prisoners from the United Kingdom was appealed to the Supreme Court. The judgments in this case were received in July 2016. A subsequent Appeal Court ruling in another case in 2018 directed that the Minister must consider each application on its own merits under the existing legislation and give detailed reasoning for the decision reached.

The Government has approved the General Scheme of the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Amendment Bill in 2019 in order to amend the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts 1995 and 1997. The relevant 2016 Supreme Court judgments raises the issue of how best to adapt and administer under Irish law a foreign sentence that contains features not found in Irish sentences. This (Amendment) Bill is designed to address this issue.

Officials in my Department are currently working with the Office of the Attorney General with a view to progressing this matter so that a finalised Bill can be brought to Government and presented to the Oireachtas as soon as possible.

Legislation to transpose Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA is also being progressed and is on the Government Legislative Programme Priority List for publication this session.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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339. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of each contract placed in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and up to November 2020 for works awarded to a company (details supplied) by the Prison Service other than for those services specifically provided for in the schedule at appendix 1, Requirements and Specifications of the Request for Tenders dated December 2013 as published by the Prison Service; and if she will provide a schedule of contracts that were awarded following a specific procurement and tender procedure for those works and contracts in which no procurement procedure or tender was issued. [27268/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available.

However, the information is being collated by the Irish Prison Service and will be forwarded directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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340. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to any irregularities involving procurement issues within the estates and or building services divisions of the Prison Service unit: if so, the details, nature and extent of same. [27269/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to inform the Deputy that my Department received correspondence on September 13, 2019, in relation to alleged procurement irregularities involving the Irish Prison Service and a named company. This was forwarded to my Department’s Internal Audit Unit for examination. I am informed that an investigation in relation to the complaint commenced in March 2020 and that this investigation will be finalised in 2021.

The nature of the allegations relate to the extension of a supplier contract and the awarding of works from this contract, and to allegations around purchases, payment rates and the utilisation of supplier maintenance staff.

A new tender was completed in 2020 and I am informed that this was a complex and lengthy tender process involving extensive engagement with a number of parties including the Office of Government Procurement, the Chief State Solicitor's Office, and technical consultants.

I understand that the previous contract remained in operation until the new contract commenced in 2020. This was to ensure continuity of service provision for the prison estate and involved various works, ranging from commissioning and maintenance of mechanical and electrical and associated plant and systems, repairs, renewals and upgrades, and general, reactive and planned preventative maintenance.

Where work was carried out beyond the original contract date, the expenditure has been reported in line with government accounting rules.

A further allegation was received in 2020. This allegation is currently being investigated.