§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list any cases in the past seven years where transfers of prisoners from Great Britain were refused by the Northern Ireland Office.
§ Mr. Cope[holding answer 25 July 1989]: The Northern Ireland Office does not have overall responsibility for decisions on transfer requests from inmates in Great Britain. The final decision is taken by the Secretaries of State for the Home Department or for Scotland as appropriate. Twenty-eight requests have been refused on the Northern Ireland Office's recommendation since 1982. It would be a breach of confidentiality to name the individuals who made these requests.