asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of Irish citizens in British prisons; the number who have requested a transfer to Ireland; and the steps that have been taken to grant their request.

According to the latest figures available to me there are 1,055 Irish prisoners in Britain of which 336 are from Northern Ireland.

I am aware that a small number of prisoners have expressed a wish to be transferred to a prison in Northern Ireland to complete their sentence. My policy has been to press for such transfers where we believe there are genuine humanitarian reasons for doing so. The number of prisoners who have sought my assistance in this connection in the past year is three.

In so far as the question of transfer of prisoners to prisons in the State is concerned, there is at present no provision for such transfers. However, Ireland recently signed the European Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners the aim of which is to make it possible for a person sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a foreign country to serve the sentence in the country of which he is a national if the two countries in question are parties to the Convention. The question of Ireland's ratification is under active consideration.

Is there any compulsion on the Irish Government, following the signing of the European Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners, to bring forward legislation here?

We signed the Convention on 20 August and at present we are considering the follow-up steps we should take, including the introduction of legislation, but we have not reached a decision as yet.

Have the British authorities given permission in recent years to any prisoners to transfer to prisons in the Republic? What is the position in regard to the request for a transfer by the three people who have sought the Minister's assistance?

Those people sought a transfer to Northern Ireland. If the Deputy tables a question on that matter I will get the necessary information for him. I am not aware of anybody having applied to be transferred to prisons in the Republic but I may be wrong.

Should Irish prisoners write directly to the Minister's Department or to the British Home Office when seeking a transfer? Obviously, most Irish prisoners would not wish to contact the British Home Office. However, I should like to know if the Minister will accept a written application from prisoners and communicate with the British authorities?

It would not be a matter for my Department but if the application is directed to the Embassy in London I will transfer it to the appropriate Department. The Deputy should not underestimate what is involved. The UK and Ireland are signatories to this Convention but as yet we have not ratified it. If we were willing to accept a prisoner the British Government would have to agree to the transfer. However, that would be on an ex-gratia basis and would not be under the Convention.

The Minister will have to take into account the fact that our prisons are crowded to bursting point at present. Will he do something about that in view of the fact that we cannot facilitate too many?

That is a matter that will have to be taken into consideration.

Did the Minister indicate that the ratification of this Convention is being considered? When will a decision be made?

I could not give a precise timescale but I must point out that the Convention was signed on 20 August. It may be some time before we decided on the action we should take including the bringing in of legislation for ratification.