MR Eamon O Cuiv TD will report to the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, today on the apparent "failure" of legislation providing for the transfer of Irish prisoners in Britain.
At the end of a week-long tour of British prisons, the Fianna Fail TD says "no cognisance was taken of the IRA ceasefire" and suggests republican prisoners serving in Britain are unlikely to be pressing for a second cessation.
Mr O Cuiv's visit has turned particular attention on the cases of four men - Joe McKinney, Derek Doherty, Padraig Mac Floinn and Michael O'Brien - whose applications under the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons have been approved by the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, and still await agreement by the British Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard.
McKinney (69), is in the 11th year of a 16-year sentence for conspiracy.
Mr O Cuiv criticised the denial of parole on the grounds that it would prove unacceptable to "reasonable public opinion", commenting: "It seems extraordinary that judicial or quasi-judicial decisions should be taken on the basis of public opinion".
Only two prisoners, Patrick Kelly and Brendan Dowd, have been transferred to Irish prisons since the legislation came into effect last November. And Mr O Cuiv has spoken of the serious frustration among prisoners, some of whom have served more than 20 years, who still have no certainty about their eventual transfer or release.