§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received an application for the temporary transfer of prisoner No. B51715 from Frankland prison to a prison in Northern Ireland; if he will outline the compassionate grounds on which the application was based; and if he will give sympathetic consideration to immediately granting this application.
§ Mr. MellorOn 14 August 1989 the inmate concerned submitted a petition requesting temporary transfer to a prison in Northern Ireland in order to receive accumulated visits from members of his family who live in Belfast. The petition expressed concern about the strain being experienced by the inmate's family and particularly about the wellbeing of the inmate's wife, daughter and mother. We and the Northern Ireland Office need to take both security and compassionate considerations into account before deciding whether the request can be granted. No decision has yet been reached. I should add that the inmate has also submitted a petition for permanent transfer to Northern Ireland. This, too, is being carefully considered.