Some 250 prisoners will be granted temporary release over the Christmas period, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has announced.
It is understood the four men convicted in connection with the killing of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996, will not be among those released.
The releases, under the 1960 Criminal Justice Act, compare with 303 last Christmas and 282 in 1998.
The Minister said many of the prisoners being released are nearing the end of their sentences, while others are serving relatively short sentences. Release periods vary from a few hours up to two weeks. In some cases the prisoner will be accompanied by "another responsible person" and in exceptional cases, under escort. According to the Minister's statement, the overriding concern in considering Christmas release applications is public safety. "In addition to compassionate and humane considerations, other criteria taken into account include the nature and gravity of the offence, length of sentence served to date, prior record on temporary release, if any, and previous criminal history."
The Minister insisted that all releases are subject to stringent conditions, which include in most cases reporting to the local Garda station on a regular basis.
Any offender who breaks these conditions might be arrested and returned immediately to prison by gardai.
