Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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74. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of visits that remand prisoners are entitled per week, due to contradictory information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54140/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Remand prisoners are individuals held in custody who are either awaiting trial for a crime they have been charged with, or who have been convicted of a crime and are awaiting sentencing.

A Remand Warrant is a warrant to hold a prisoner or accused person in custody with instructions to return them to a District Court on a particular day and a Trial Warrant is a warrant to hold a prisoner or accused person in custody to await trial or continuation/conclusion of their trial.

In line with the Prison Rules 2007 remand prisoners are entitled to receive one visit per day of not less than 15 minutes in duration, from relatives or friends on each day for six days per week where practicable, but not less than three days per week.

It should be noted that many prisoners are now opting for video visits over in person visits for personal reasons and video visits are at least 20 minutes in duration.

Given the level of persons in custody it may not always be feasible to give prisoners their full entitlement. The IPS have assured me that they endeavour to ensure that each prisoner receives at least one physical or video visit per week.