All but a handful of this State's IRA prisoners held in Portlaoise Prison are expected to be out on what is termed "permanent release" by the end of this year.
The Provisional IRA population in the prison, which had fallen to around 20 last year, has risen to 34 with the transfer of long-serving IRA prisoners from Britain.
The Government has indicated that anyone convicted of involvement in the shooting dead of Garda Jerry McCabe will not qualify for early release. However, it is not yet clear how the Government intends to deal with the three Provisional IRA men convicted of the murder of Garda Frank Hand in 1984. These three, Brian McShane, Thomas Eccles and Patrick McPhillips, all from Dundalk, Co Louth, are among the Provisional IRA prisoners in Portlaoise's E Block. All three were initially sentenced to death but had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment with a recommendation that they serve 40 years. They have theoretical release dates of 2024.
The State will not be granting early release to the dissident IRA, INLA or other "nonaligned" republican paramilitaries in the prison. These include 12 prisoners who are associated with either the Continuity IRA, or the dissident IRA group which supports the anti-agreement stance of the group known as the 32-County Sovereignty Committee.
There are also nine prisoners who say they are members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and five who claim to be republican paramilitaries but who are not aligned to any of the main groups.
Dessie O'Hare, sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment in 1989 for kidnapping dentist Mr John O'Grady, describes himself as a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). He is likely to remain in prison until he is no longer a threat to society.