§ Mr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many republican prisoners have submitted applications to be transferred from his jurisdiction to penal institutions in the Republic of Ireland; what is the average length of time for such an application to be processed; and if he will make a statement; [11084]
(2) what plans he has to authorise the transfer of republican prisoners to penal institutions in the Republic of Ireland under the European convention on the transfer of sentenced prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [11083]
§ Ms Quin[holding answers 30 July 1997]: Any prisoner may apply for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland. All such applications are considered under the terms of the convention and, in accordance with this country's long-standing policy, which is normally not to repatriate prisoners where there would likely to be a substantial reduction in time to serve as a result.
To date, 24 prisoners convicted of terrorist-related offences and held in prisons in England and Wales have applied to be repatriated to the Republic of Ireland.
Of eight such applications which have been resolved to date, six were processed in an average period of a little over 10 months from date of application for repatriation 561W to date of final decision; two were withdrawn by the prisoners concerned 19 months after date of first application.
The date of application is taken as being either the date on which the prisoner submitted the request, or 1 November 1995—the date on which the Republic brought the convention into force there—whichever is the later.