§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for prisoner repatriation to the Republic of Ireland are under consideration; and how many of these are from prisoners convicted of terrorist offences. [89905]
§ Mr. George Howarth48 applications for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland are currently under consideration, including three from prisoners convicted of Irish terrorist related offences.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, in each year since 1997, was the average length of time taken for a prison transfer from the submission of a successful application to their arrival in the Republic of Ireland for(a) IRA prisoners and (b) non-IRA prisoners. [89906]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe information requested is given in the table.
Average periods1, from date of submission of a successful application for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland to date of arrival in the Republic, in 1997 and 1998 Prisoners convicted of terrorist related offences2 Non-terrorist prisoners 1997 Approximately 9 months Approximately 23 months 1998 Approximately 10 months All applications submitted in 1998 remain outstanding 1 Not all applications were resolved in the same calendar year as that in which they were submitted 2 Details of prisoners' alleged paramilitary affiliations are not centrally recorded