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1. The Committee has noted the information supplied by the Government in reply to its earlier comments as regards discharge from the Defence Forces. It has noted, in particular, the Defence Forces Regulations (DFR) A 10, which lay down the conditions and financial cost applying to persons wishing to leave the service.

2. The Committee notes the observations made by the Scheme Workers Alliance (SWA) in communications dated 18 January, 14 May and 31 August 1999, as well as the observations made by the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union in a communication dated 16 August 1999, concerning the application by Ireland of a number of ratified ILO Conventions, including Conventions Nos. 29 and 105. The Committee also notes that these observations were transmitted to the Government in February, May and October 1999, for any comments as might be judged appropriate. The Committee hopes that the Government will send its comments on these observations for consideration by the Committee at its next session.

3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the International Labour Conference (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with any minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2000.]