Prison Visiting Regulations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 November 2014

Thursday, 27 November 2014

Questions (110)

Clare Daly

Question:

110. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 70 of 20 November 2014, whether her understanding is that the term "spiritual visits" is synonymous with the provision of a regular chaplaincy service within the prison system or refers to spiritual comfort visits from priests, pastors and those who officiate in other religions who come from outside the prison, for example, from a prisoner's home area; which spiritual visits have hitherto been allowed surplus to the regular visits to which prisoners are entitled; and if there has been a policy change to discontinue such spiritual comfort visits per above citing overcrowding in prisons. [45655/14]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

I wish to inform the Deputy that there is no change in policy in Chaplains/Spiritual External persons visiting prisoners in prison.

The Irish Prison Chaplain Service has a crucial role in the provision of pastoral and spiritual care to the entire prison community and seeks to meet the needs of all denominations. In addition to the Chaplain Service, external spiritual visitors of other churches/religions can attend the prisons on a visiting basis, subject to normal visit rules.

All persons entering a prison must be on a prisoner's visitor panel which are nominated by the prisoner only. There are two types of panel for each prisoner namely a standard panel which predominantly features family and friends and a professional panel which features legal personnel and any other person providing a service.

It should be noted that some "Spiritual External" persons may be listed as family and friends by prisoners and would not be recorded by their title. I can confirm that up to and including the 25 November 2014 there were 688 instances of a person entering our prisons with a relationship description of Chaplain/Spiritual External which includes priests. Prisoners can avail of special visits outside their normal visits entitlement on approval from the Governor of the prison. These are normally approved for compassionate reasons e.g. in the event of a family bereavement or personal issue.