A draft framework EU agreement, currently being considered by member states, proposes ending the existing arrangement whereby a prisoner serving a sentence in another EU state can only be transferred to a jail in his or her home state with the consent of the two countries and the person involved.

Advocates say the proposed measure would work in the interests of the social rehabilitation of prisoners.

However, if the new agreement . . . currently only at discussion level . . . is adopted, it would only require the consent of the country in which the prisoner is being held for a transfer to take place.

There are 800 Irish people in prison abroad, the vast majority of them in UK prisons. Were the new agreement to be struck, it raises the prospect of hundreds of those prisoners . . . often with very little existing ties to Ireland - being transferred back to Irish prisons against their will and significantly adding to the state's current prison population of 3,000.

However, it is understood that officials from the Department of Justice are engaged in detailed discussions with their UK counterparts with a view to negotiating a special agreement that would effectively see the existing transfer arrangements remain in place for Ireland and Britain.

This would mean that all three parties . . . the prisoner and the two states . . . would have to consent to any transfer.

Well-placed sources said they were "optimistic" about a positive outcome, particularly because of the existence of a long-standing common travel area between the two countries.

The bilateral discussions are also likely to touch on the UK's new policy of deporting foreign prisoners to their home country at the end of their sentence. There have been suggestions that this policy could be in conflict with EU law and rights of EU citizens to travel between, and live in, member countries.

However, this issue is not a particular concern for the Irish government. The existence of the common travel area between Britain and Ireland means that there would be nothing to stop Irish citizens, deported here after serving their sentence in Britain, returning to the UK.

This point is acknowledged by the UK authorities and means that Irish prisoners there are likely to be exempt from such measures.