Vol. 443 No. 8
32 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Justice if 80 per cent of the inmates in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin 7, opt for inactivity because there is no incentive for them to participate in other activities as revealed in the recent report of the visiting committee to Mountjoy Prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
42 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Justice if she will make a statement on a recommendation of the Mountjoy Prison visiting committee that judges should require a remand report stating the way in which a person was behaved during his or her period on remand.
43 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Justice her response to the recommendation in the 1992 Mountjoy Prison visiting committee's annual report that the question of fire escapes should be tackled in Mountjoy Jail,Dublin 7; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
45 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice, arising from the report of 11 March 1994, from the visiting committee to Mountjoy Prison, Dublin 7, the steps, if any, that have been taken to implement the committee's recommendations regarding the granting of temporary release.
50 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Justice if she will make a statement on the 1991, 1992 and 1993 reports of the Mountjoy Prison visiting committee.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 42, 43, 45 and 50 together.
Careful note is made in my Department of all reports of Visiting Committees, including those of the Mountjoy Visiting Committee, and any recommendations are taken fully into account, as opportunity offers, in the development of policy affecting the operation of the prison system. There are many recommendations, for example, those requiring structural change, which clearly, for organisational and resource reasons, can be considered only in the context of planned, often long term, programmes affecting all institutions.
As I have already announced, I intend to publish shortly a policy document/five year plan for the management of offenders and in that document I will be setting out my plans to deal with the most urgent needs of the prison system. The document will advocate a specific strategic approach to the management of offenders which I hope will form a sound basis for the solution of a whole range of problems. It will include management changes to facilitate the development and extension of new policies. I do not propose to comment in detail on particular recommendations in Visiting Committees' Annual Reports before that document is published.
