The cost of resettling paramilitary inmates released early from the Maze Prison in Co Antrim could be as high as £3,500 each. However, the Northern Ireland Office has said no direct payments will be made to the prisoners, writes Suzanne Breen, in Belfast.
An NIO spokeswoman denied newspaper suggestions that republican and loyalist inmates would be given large sums to help them adjust to life outside jail. "These prisoners, like any others serving long sentences, would go through a pre-release scheme which might involve counselling and training and possibly a period of day release," she said.
"The cost of all that preparation could be in the region of £3,500, but as far as the notion of them getting cheques in their hands, that's not right." She said every inmate, paramilitary or otherwise, received a "small" discharge grant on release.