Three prisoners mistakenly released early from jail 

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said the errors undermine public confidence in the prison system. Stock picture

Three prisoners were released early from custody in error in the past 18 months because of miscalculations.

In each case, the prisoner in question was recaptured and “returned to custody”.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) gave no indication as to how long the prisoners were at large but said the errors were “regrettable”.

Opposition TDs have described the situation as concerning, saying that such errors could have a profound impact on the victims of crime.

Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said the errors undermine public confidence in the system: 

Public confidence in this area is paramount and these issues can raise all sorts of dilemmas for victims. 

Following mistaken releases in December 2020, a review of 4,000 cases was undertaken and 131 errors were discovered. 102 prisoners’ sentences had to be extended, 29 had their release date brought forward and six were “required to be released immediately”.

The reasons for inaccurate sentence calculations included erroneous start dates and incorrect linking of consecutive and concurrent sentences.

In a statement, the IPS confirmed that three prisoners were released in error and later returned to custody.

The circumstances which led to these errors “have been investigated and acted upon”, the statement added.