Pat Gallagher
Question:156 Mr. Gallagher (Laoighis-Offaly) asked the Minister for Justice the measures, if any, that have been taken by various Governments to implement the recommendations of the Whittaker report on prison reform.
Written Answers. - Whitaker Report on Prison Reform.
The report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System — generally known as the "Whitaker" report — contains two categories of recommendations.
First, there are the recommendations in the report which consist of broad statements of principle, such as the need to respect the fundamental human rights of a person in prison and allow them to maintain their dignity except to the extent invitably associated with the loss of liberty. The validity of principles of this kind have been recognised for decades and the Whitaker report acknowledges this.
Second, there are the specific recommendations which the committee clearly regarded as the means of giving practical expression to the statements of principle. In relation to the "specifics" there has been some quite significant progress, for example: (1) the Whitaker report recommended that greater use be made of alternatives to custody. Various alternatives were already in place when the committee reported — and the committee recognised this. There has been a greatly expanded use of alternatives in the interim with about 3,200 offenders on alternatives of various kinds at the present time. Extra staff have been appointed to the Probation and Welfare Service who have the task of taking offenders on special supervision in the community. "Drop-in centres" have been provided — one in Dublin and one in Cork — where counselling services are available to the offenders in question; (2) the report recommended the appointment of a medical director. He was duly appointed in October, 1990; (3) the report recommended the establishment of a group which would have responsibility for providing the Minister for Justice with independent advice on the administration of long term sentences, including life sentences. With the approval of the Government the Minister established such a group, under the chairmanship of Dr. Whitaker, towards the end of 1989. The group has the task of reviewing the cases of all offenders who have served imprisonment sentences of seven years or more — whether a life sentence or a fixed long term sentence. The only offenders excluded are capital murderers; (4) the state of industrial relations — a matter which was of great concern to the Whitaker Committee — has improved significantly in the past few years. The prison Officers Association have publicly acknowledged the progress which is being made in this regard; (5) various improvements have been made to prison accommodation and more is planned including advances in in-cell sanitation, etc. These improvements are in line with recommendations in the report; (6) new duty rosters were introduced for prison officers. This was also recommended in the report, and (7) a number of other recommendations in the report concerning personnel matters have also been implemented, e.g. mixed staffing of all prisons, compositions of recruitment interview boards, etc.
There are specific recommendations which have not been implemented but which are kept under review. I will be looking at these again, in the context of a through review of prisons' policy in which I am currently engaged. This review is now at an advanced stage.