Convicted murderer Malcolm Macarthur will be among the 230 prisoners being granted temporary release over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Macarthur, who is 60, was sentenced to life in prison in 1982 for killing a nurse, Bridie Gargan, in the Phoenix Park, where she had been sunbathing.
He will be released for a few hours on Christmas Day.
It is understood that the four men serving prison sentences for the killing of Garda Detective Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, in 1996, will not be released.
