Dail report:Prison authorities have no legal reason to detain one of the four men convicted of the manslaughter of a detective garda beyond his release date in May, according to the Taoiseach.
Bertie Ahern confirmed in the Dáil that Michael O'Neill is scheduled for release in two months' time after serving eight years of an 11-year sentence for Det Garda Jerry McCabe's manslaughter.
He was also convicted of the wounding of Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan and of possession of a firearm with intent during an attempted post office robbery in Adare, Co Limerick, in June 1996.
Mr Ahern told Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny that "there is no question of this prisoner or any other person convicted in respect of the horrific events in Adare being released ahead of time".
Mr Kenny said there was growing concern that "in serious cases sentencing is reduced by one quarter when prisoners arrive at the prison gates" and that this remission was automatic rather than earned.
The Taoiseach said prisoners had a statutory entitlement to remission provided they demonstrated good behaviour, and breaches of the rules resulted in loss of remission.
"This person was the subject of a single such report during his sentence and has lost a total of 12 days of remission. Therefore he has not received full remission." His release was set for May 17th. "As matters stand the Prison Service would have no legal authority to detain him beyond that date."
Mr Kenny said an apparent automatic remission level of 25 per cent of a prisoner's sentence "serves to undermine confidence in the justice system and represents a disregard for victims". He asked if the Minister for Justice had sole responsibility on behalf of the Government to set out the rules governing remission.
Mr Kenny spoke of the public outrage that followed the murder of Garda McCabe and asked the Taoiseach to confirm "that one of the people convicted of manslaughter in that case is being released from Castlerea Prison with full remission having served eight of the 11 years imposed on him".
Mr Ahern pointed out that "for a number of years in this country, one-quarter has been set down as the proportion of remission to be granted". The equivalent period in Britain is one third "while it ranges between one quarter and one-third in other countries".
He emphasised that "if there are breaches of the disciplinary codes or if prisoners do not conform, remission can be removed in its entirety".
The Fine Gael leader pointed to a report about Castlerea Prison that "the IRA prisoner enclave within Castlerea was operating as a separate prison, whereas the prison's policy is to fully integrate prisoners within the complex". Mr Kenny said that the rules should be made "crystal clear" so that prisoners are seen to earn remission.
Mr Ahern said: "I do not believe the prison authorities accept for one minute that there is an issue of a prison within a prison." Remission "is statutory if it's earned and the prison authorities make that determination. They have made such a determination in this case."
