Gilligan's island

Can John Gilligan reform the prison economy? Stranger things have happened!

Jason O'Toole, 16 Mar 2009

While that anti-male discrimination has been rectified going into the future, with all prisoners – regardless of their sex – now having a right to remission of only one-quarter of their prison sentence, Gilligan’s lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano says females imprisoned prior to 2007 are still entitled to the one third-remission. This, he argues, is clearly discriminatory. Di Stefano is now seeking the same entitlement for all male prisoners incarcerated prior to the 2007 changes in prison regulations.

“If the government gave prisoners a third remission it would make spaces in jail,” Gilligan says. “And they are trying to open new prisons here and they haven’t got the staff for it. It would cut costs and save millions. The women prisoners are entitled to a third remission under the 1947 Act. So, shouldn’t we all be equal under the law? Giovanni, who’ll get my support when he runs in the EU elections this summer, is looking after this legal challenge for us. If they gave the third remission to us men – those who are entitled to it – it would save the taxpayers a considerable amount of money. There should be equality amongst men and women prisoners.

“I reckon they would easily save €50 million. They are saying it’s costing €200,000 a year to keep us here in Portlaoise and €120,000 in other prisons. There’s 4,000 people in the Irish prisons, right? If you give a third remission you’re getting another month a year off – so it would work out that 400 people would get out for that particular year.

“That’s 400 extra people getting out, so to speak. Well, if it’s costing €150,000 to keep each one of them, well you multiply that by 400. What’s that? €6 million or something, is it? It’s a lot. I could pay my CAB bill if I had that type of money!

“A few hundred would get out and they’d have a few more hundred cells. A new jail in the recession is crazy. But if they gave the people the remission that they are entitled to – it’s not a bonus, it’s just what they are entitled to – they’d easily get 500 new spaces and there would be no need to open a new jail. They’d save millions.”

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