28th January 2004
320. Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prison to court escorts and court to prison escort journeys that were made by remand prisoners for 2003. [2536/04]
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): The information sought by the Deputy is not fully available.
The number of escorted court appearances by persons already in prison custody totalled approximately 28,000 in 2003. It is not possible to state what percentage of these court appearances related to prisoners who were on remand at the time of the escort but the majority of prisoners attending court would fall into this category.
It should be noted that not all of these court appearances would have involved separate escorts. Depending on the court list, a number of prisoners are taken as part of a single escort party.
In the vast majority of the cases referred to, the prisoner would have been returned to prison after his or her court appearance. Additional persons, for instance those on bail prior to sentence, would also be brought to the prison from the court under escort following imposition of a custodial sentence.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.