Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1063. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason a person (details supplied) was granted repatriation to the UK, in view of the fact that other foreign nationals in Ireland's prison system have been refused repatriation requests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12882/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I would like to start by again offering my sincere condolences to the victim's family on their loss in such appalling circumstances.

I am acutely aware that my acceding to this request to transfer the individual to the UK to serve the remainder of his life sentence has been very difficult for the family of the victim.

While the feelings of the victim's family were at the forefront of my mind, the Deputy will be aware that I am obliged to act in a manner consistent with our obligations under international law, specifically the Council of Europe Convention on the transfer of sentenced persons and the European Convention on Human Rights. Having considered these obligations, the clear legal advice of the Attorney General, and the particular circumstances of the case, it was necessary to accede to this application for transfer.

Both I and Minister McEntee sincerely regret that the family in this case first heard of the initial decision in 2022 to transfer the individual in question to a prison in the UK after that decision had been made. I can assure the Deputy that the earlier decision was entirely set aside to ensure the victim's mother was given the opportunity to make a submission, and the issue has now been considered from the beginning. In doing so I am satisfied that the applicant can expect to spend many more years in prison, as is just given the horrific nature of the crime he committed and the pain he has caused.

In considering the application for transfer in this case, I was required in law to consider a number of factors, including that the applicant had been on 23 hour lock-down for the three years due to very significant security risks. These risks constituted a threat to the staff and prisoners at Limerick Prison, as well as to the applicant with a wider security assessment indicating that these risks would persist in any Irish Prison. That risk also necessarily formed one of parts of the considerations of this transfer application.

I am also satisfied that the victim’s mother is entitled to engage with the Victim Contact Scheme in the UK and the Irish Prison Service are available to support her in engaging with the UK authorities.

To further strengthen the rights of victims, I received Government approval to change the law to make it a statutory requirement to notify victims registered with the Irish Prison Service that an application for transfer outside the State has been made by a prisoner serving a sentence here, and providing victims with an opportunity to make a submission in relation to the application.

This has recently been approved by the Oireachtas and is expected to become law very shortly.