Marian Harkin
Question:205 Ms Harkin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason Amnesty International is denied access to Irish prisons. [23969/02]
Written Answers. - Prison Access.
Finian McGrath
Question:219 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he refused Amnesty International the opportunity to visit Irish prisons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24057/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 205 and 219 together.
A proposal for a research project on racism in Irish prisons has been the subject of correspondence and contact between my Department and the Irish Penal Reform Trust and Amnesty International for some time.
The initial application in the matter was contained in a letter of 21 September 2001 from the IPRT to the director general of the Irish Prisons Service. The director general replied on the same day expressing regret that it was not possible to facilitate the trust on that occasion. The reasons outlined were that a very similar research project was just under way and it would not be fair to people in custody to have two sets of researchers engage with them on similar research at the same time. It has since become apparent that the project proposed by the IPRT would be a joint venture with Amnesty International.
I recognise the valuable work undertaken by Amnesty International in protecting human rights throughout the world and the important contribution of the non-governmental sector in regard to research in prisons. In this particular instance I did not consider it appropriate to facilitate overlapping research projects on racism in Irish prisons and I explained my views to Amnesty International in correspondence in July and September. That correspondence indicated that the Irish prison system is already the subject of continuous scrutiny by independent national and international bodies and that the Irish Prisons Service has facilitated several recent independent research projects including, for example, studies undertaken by the IPRT on the use of segregation cells. There is no question of denying the non-governmental sector access to prisons. It is simply the case that I did not see merit in duplicating, to a significant degree, research already under way.
As regards the racism research project already in progress, it is an independent project which is being conducted by the National Training and Development Institute which was selected following a publicly advertised tender competition. The purpose of the research is to provide a basis for a racism awareness programme for prison staff and prisoners. I have given an undertaking that my Department will provide Amnesty International with a copy of the completed NTDI research report as well as information, in due course, on the implementation and evaluation of the subsequent programme.