A grant of €218,000 was today awarded to the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO) as the Minister for Foreign Affairs accepted a report into the welfare of Irish prisoners abroad.
Minister Dermot Ahern was presented with the independent report on Irish Prisoners Abroad, commissioned by the department as part of a commitment contained in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) in 2000.
A product of the Task Force on Emigrants established under the PPF, the report aims to identify the number of Irish prisoners abroad and their needs for services while in prison.
Among the measures outlined in the report prepared by former junior minister Chris Flood is the establishment of a €200,000 "hardship fund" to help Irish prisoners abroad.
It is currently estimated that there are 800 Irish citizens in foreign prisons, including 708 in Britain.
There are also Irish people in jails in 11 EU countries including 14 inmates in Slovenia and 12 in the Netherlands. There are up to 50 prisoners in 14 non-EU countries like the US, Australia, Thailand, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia.
Welcoming the report's publication the Minister said the financial grant awarded today - which brings total funding to the ICPO in the last five years to €900,000 - recognised the ICPO's "continued front-line service to this isolated group of people".
"One of the most important functions of my department is the provision of support and consular assistance to our citizens who find themselves in difficulties abroad," the Minister said.
"I am very conscious of the problems of isolation, communication and cultural difficulties which many Irish prisoners experience abroad," he added.
"For their families back in Ireland, often elderly parents, the experience of having their loved ones detained in distant locations can be particularly distressing, and visits to the incarcerated family member can present considerable logistical challenges."
Mr Ahern said that although Irish people that committed crimes abroad "must face the consequences of their actions before the local criminal justice system," the State had a responsibility to ensure Irish prisoners are not discriminated against as foreign prisoners.
Mr Flood said: "Some countries provide very little for prisoners and there is a need for supplementary food and toiletries. Against that background, I feel that there is a need for funds which the local embassy or consulate can draw on to maintain prisoners' health and welfare in such circumstances.
"There is also occasionally a need in exceptional circumstances to assist Irish prisoners closer to home who have no means of keeping in contact with families."
Mr Flood warned that it should not seen as an automatic slush fund for prisoners but should only be used in cases of "genuine hardship".
The Minister said he would examine the report's recommendations on how the Government might improve the services being provided to prisoners abroad.
Additional reporting: PA