Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Question:6 Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn asked the Minister for Justice if she intends to appoint an inspector of prisons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21781/96]
Other Questions. - Inspector of Prisons.
On 19 June last in my answer to a question on this issue I clearly set out my thinking on this matter. At that time I informed the House that it was my intention to consider the issue of the appointment of an independent inspector of prisons in the overall context of the review of the question of establishing a prisons board. This is still my intention.
As the Deputy will be aware the Government has decided to establish an independent board or agency to run the prison service on a day to day basis. The Deputy will also be aware that a group of experts will examine the detailed issues involved in establishing this new structure. I am asking the group to address the issue of an independent inspectorate of prisons. Should an appointment of inspector of prisons be recommended I would expect his or her role to be spelt out.
The expert group will be chaired by Mr. Dan McAuley, chairman of Gypsum Industries plc, and former chairman of the Labour Relations Commission. The group will consist of, in addition to the chairman, two representatives from the Department of Justice, two from the Department of Finance, an official from the Attorney General's office and two other members from outside the Civil Service whose names I will announce later.
I welcome the Minister's reply. I put it to her that the appointment of an inspector of prisons is a desirable objective. The inspector of mental hospitals, for example, has played a crucial role in keeping the state and operation of those hospitals to the fore. It is necessary that the issue of prison accommodation is kept to the fore. The best way to achieve this is to appoint an individual with powers of enforcement. The inspector of prisons could make recommendations which would have considerable influence on the Minister of the day in order to ensure a more efficient, effective and modern prison system.
I favour the establishment of an inspectorate for the prison system. The programme for Government states that we will examine the establishment of an independent prisons agency. I see the two as part of the same issue and it would have been foolish to appoint an inspector of prisons when I was also drawing up the memorandum to establish the prisons agency. The two will work in tandem, which is the practical way to approach this matter. I agree with Deputy O'Donoghue that the position of inspector of prisons is vital, alongside a new independent prisons agency.
The prison service has been groaning because of the pressure placed on it in the past. I inherited a groaning system and I hope that, before I leave office and someone assumes it following next year's general election, there will be an improved model to hand over to an inspector and an independent prison agency. I believe the current building programme will help us to come to grips to the more serious problems in the prison system.
If an inspector of prisons is appointed, I hope that he or she will be independent and that the notion of a visiting committee will not be abolished because it is important that the community receives some assurance regarding lay person involvement in setting standards in prisons. These reforms will have no effect if simple procedures such as producing the annual report are not updated. The fact that the 1993 report was published only recently is terribly demoralising. If this House is supposed to be responsible to the community for the prison service and the conditions obtaining therein, how can it discharge that duty if Members must rely on a report about conditions in prisons which is three years out of date?
I believe the inspector, male or female, will be independent. In asking the expert group to consider the idea of a prisons agency, I gave no instruction to abolish the visiting committee system. However, I am sure the group will give the matter further consideration. I hope it does not advise that the visiting committee system should be abolished. Those committees act as a conduit for prisoners seeking advice and assistance. I do not intend to abolish that system nor do I envisage the expert group making such a proposal in its examination of the concept of a prison agency. Visiting committees are central to prisoners' rights, they do not assist the management of prisons.
The annual visiting committee reports contain all statistics relevant to prisons. On taking up office I discovered those reports were long out of date. I said I wanted the 1993 report published immediately and the 1994 and 1995 reports published as fast as possible, even if that meant publishing other statistics for those years at a later stage. Those reports are not published until all the relevant statistics have been compiled, and that can take a long time. An up-to-date technology system is only coming on stream in the criminal justice system. The speed with which statistics are gathered and compiled is far too slow at present. I hope to be in a position to publish the 1994 and 1995 reports in a few months and we will publish the remainder of the material at a later date. I agree with the Deputy that if information is three or four years out of date it is not relevant.
Does the Minister envisage the inspector of prisons having an ombudsman's role in regard to complaints from inmates and prison officers? Does she intend to legislate in that regard?
I cannot outline the precise range of functions that will be allocated to the inspector. I want the expert group to examine the role of the inspector when the new agency is set up. I have recently completed a code of discipline for prison officers which was almost 30 years in the making. I am pleased we have come to the end of that rather arduous and tortuous process. The question of whether the inspector should publish annual reports and so on will be considered by the expert group. When it publishes its report at the end of January, I will be able to answer the Deputy's question.