Written Answers. - Prison Report Recommendations.
Martin Cullen
Question:
22
Mr. Cullen
asked the
Minister for Justice
the measures, if any, she will put in place in view of the publication of the report of the 1995 Mountjoy Visiting Committee report; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[12885/96]
Peadar Clohessy
Question:
68
Mr. Clohessy
asked the
Minister for Justice
the specific measures, if any, she will take on foot of the report of the Mountjoy Visiting Committee, 1995; the steps, if any, she intends to take to implement the recommendations of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[12860/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 68 together.
Problems in the Irish prison system did not arise overnight. They are the result of a number of difficulties which have been in existence and growing for many years, including, inter alia, rising prisoner committal levels and longer sentences. I have been doing all in my power in my period in office to address these problems. I have dealt with some of the important recommendations made by the Mountjoy Visiting Committee by way of replies to separate questions on today's Order Paper including the appointment of an inspector of prisons and separate remand facilities for prisoners.
Other important recommendations made by the Committee include:
Introduction of a legal ceiling to numbers in Mountjoy Prison.
This is not a feasible recommendation for the main committal prison in the State. Every effort is made to keep numbers there within bounds but this proposal does not provide a magic wand to dispose of the prisoners who would have to be turned away if the "House Full" sign were to go up outside Mountjoy Prison.
Immediate commencement of the building of the Female Prison.
I fully intend to achieve early progress on the building work of a new female prison. Revised plans and costings in regard to this project are being finalised with a view to their early resubmission to Government.
Restructuring the Permanent Suicide Prevention Committee at Mountjoy.
Contrary to the visiting committee's opinion, the committee in question is a permanent one. It will now have a representative on a new national prison suicide prevention/awareness committee which I recently set up under the chairmanship of a senior prison governor. This new national committee will include in its membership some of the most experienced prison managers and staff and medical practitioners who are very involved in prisons work.
Formulation of one coherent medical services policy.
"The Management of Offenders — A Five year Plan", to which I have already referred, outlines, at chapter 7, the objectives of the prison medical service. The medical policy aims stated there are based on the principle of equivalence with corresponding care in the community in order to provide publicly accepted standards. As well as outlining, in a policy sense, how medical services to prisoners should be organised and provided, this document sets out the nature of present difficulties and proposes remedies. Some of the medical concerns raised in the document have been addressed since its publication. Others are in the process of being addressed. The five year plan was circulated at the time of publication to all existing prison doctors and the Medical Council and comments were sought. None of those concerned dissented from the tenor or thrust of the comments or proposals outlined in it.
Introduction of structures of medical accountability and increasing powers of Medical Director of Prison Services.
I and others have received solicitors' letters on behalf of parties who object to the publication of the visiting committee's comments in relation to medical services at Mountjoy. I am advised that it would be inappropriate to make further comment on this subject at this time.
Review of Present guidelines for Padded Cells.
The Governor of Mountjoy has already pointed out publicly the sheer practical necessity for putting prisoners in a place of safety when they start being disruptive in prison. The guidelines in place for the use of padded cells require all such placements to be reported to the Department of Justice and the early involvement of the prison doctor where a stay in the padded cell goes on any longer than overnight. It is simply not practical to call out the doctor every time the padded cell has to be used for short periods. Indeed on many occasions it is used at the prisoner's request.
Initiation of a survey to establish the real extent of drug abuse within Mountjoy.
As a matter of fact such a study had already been commissioned from a criminologist, now in independent practice, who carried out a similar study on behalf of the Department of Justice back in 1986 when he was a staff member of the Department. This study was commissioned some months back and I have asked for its early completion. I intend to publish the findings of the study. There is nothing to hide in so far as the operation of Mountjoy Prison is concerned. It will be known that I regularly allow media access to the prison to the point where hardly a week now passes without a media visit to the prison.
Of course, I recognise that there are problems in Mountjoy Prison, not least because of its age but also because of the growing pressures on the criminal justice system generally in which it plays such a significant part.
Since I took office there have been several positive changes in the operation and infrastructure in the Mountjoy complex. These have included the provision of new kitchens and services, new surgeries, search rooms, camera surveillance of visitor boxes, a 90-space drug-free unit in the nearby training unit and a drug treatment unit in the prison itself which will open in the coming weeks. It should be said, in fairness to the visiting committee, that it has acknowledged these positive developments.
I am determined to press forward with positive measures and initiatives on a daily basis in Mountjoy and elsewhere in the system and I will continue with that approach.
