Vol. 506 No. 2
42 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will implement his recent announcement that certain categories of prisoner will no longer qualify for early release; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15368/99]
The provision of 1,000 additional prison places when the new remand prison at Cloverhill is fully operational and the opening later this year of the new midlands prison in Portlaoise and the new women's prison on the North Circular Road, Dublin, will alleviate the problem of over crowding and begin to address the need to grant temporary or early release for that reason alone in a meaningful way.
Persons serving sentences for serious crimes such as the importation and supply of drugs, sex offences, armed robberies and other cases involving serious violence, are not granted periods of temporary release by me except in very exceptional circumstances. In addition, offenders convicted of violent offences against women and children, particularly domestic violence, are rarely granted periods of temporary release.
As the prison building programme progresses, I propose to ensure that unplanned or unprogrammed releases do not take place, not only in the case of the offender categories I mentioned, but also in cases of those convicted of other serious crimes, such as violence against women and children, serious public order offences, particularly those which give rise to terror, fear and apprehension among senior citizens and other vulnerable members of the community, attacks on the elderly, so-called joyriding and persistent car thieving.
The daily number of prisoners on temporary release has decreased considerably since I took office. The average number of prisoners on temporary release in May 1997 was 578, representing 19 per cent of the total number of prisoners serving a sentence. In contrast, the average number on temporary release in May 1999 was 411, 13 per cent of the those serving a sentence. The Deputy will agree that these figures represent a significant reduction but I am not sure the facts support that.
Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin: While the Minister indicated there will be extra prison spaces, he did not give definite figures or a date as to when we can expect this. There is still a perception that prisoners are released early from prison. Will the Minister be more specific about when these measures will be implemented? Can we expect a reduction in the overcrowding that still exists, particularly in Mountjoy, as a result of this announcement?
As Cloverhill takes in remand prisoners over the coming period, the pressure on Mountjoy in terms of remand prisoners will decrease. I have given a commitment that once I have alleviated the overcrowding at Mountjoy, I intend to undertake a floor by floor, landing by landing refurbishment of the prison. I anticipate I should be in a position to open the new women's prison at Mountjoy, which will have 80 places, in a matter of weeks. I also anticipate we will receive the key to the new midlands prison in the autumn, the first phase of which will provide 400 places, and that we should be in a position to put into operation the other 115 places at the midlands prison in Portlaoise early next year. Planning is going ahead on fulfilling the remaining promises made by the Government on prison accommodation, but we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the revolving door in the Irish criminal justice system. As I said in Opposition, without a shadow of doubt it has served to undermine confidence in the system, but I could not click my fingers and build the prisons overnight.
The situation in Mountjoy is far from what it should be. Will the Minister give more details on what improvements will be made there?
The new remand prison at Cloverhill will be the first remand prison in the history of this State. Offenders remanded to Mountjoy, who number several hundred, will be moved progressively to Cloverhill. That will alleviate the overcrowding at Mountjoy and allow me to carry out refurbishment there. This will mean more facilities and comfort for the prisoners and provide prison officers with a far more adequate place to do their work.
(Mayo): Allowing for the need for sufficient prison places, does the Minister accept his preoccupation with building additional prison places is counterproductive, given that he told Deputy Howlin and me during a debate on the Estimates a mere two weeks ago that it costs a record £56,000 to keep a prisoner in prison for a year? These prisoners are not getting any rehabilitation. Given that statistics from the Minister's Department show that seven out of every ten prisoners currently in prison will reoffend, why will he not spend more money on prisoner rehabilitation?
It is not correct to say rehabilitation is not taking place. We are going to try to reduce the number of prison officers to prisoners. We are in the process of implementing the recommendations of the first report on the Probation and Welfare Service by taking on more staff, which was one of the recommendations proposed in that report. An expert group is examining the Probation and Welfare Service under the chairmanship of Mr. Brian McCarthy. We are not, therefore, considering this matter in isolation.
