Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 December 2020
347. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 586 of 15 September 2020, the status of the general scheme of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture; the status of the promised national preventive mechanism; the way in which the mechanism will be structured; the person that will be in charge of coordinating the mechanism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42555/20]
View answerIreland ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 2002. The Optional Protocol to the Convention (OPCAT) dates from 2007; it is in addition to the Convention and is designed to be preventive in nature.
Ireland is a signatory to the protocol and will ratify it once the necessary legislation is in place to provide for National Preventative Mechanisms (NPMs) to inspect and monitor places of detention for the purposes of the protocol. The current situation, which was recently communicated to the Council of Europe Committee against Torture is as follows.
The Government has committed in its Programme for Government to ratifying OPCAT before the end of 2021. My predecessor Minister Flanagan approved our intended approach in that the Inspector of Prisons is to be designated as a single NPM for the Criminal Justice Sector – places of detention, including Garda stations, courts, prisons, places of transport and transit between Garda stations, prisons and courts.
The matter of designating NPMs to oversee those relevant areas of detention outside the Criminal Justice Sector is a matter for the Minister for Health and the Minister for Defence and from the consultations my officials have had, I understand those Departments are considering the appropriate designations in this regard.
Furthermore, It is anticipated that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) will be designated as the coordinating body for NPMs in this State.
My Department is leading on the preparation for this multiple institution NPM model in terms of developing the necessary legislation for ratification of OPCAT. To this end, the General Scheme of the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill is being drafted and it is intended to bring this to Government for approval in the first quarter of 2021.
My Department is committed to supporting the Office of the Inspector of Prisons in implementing its statutory role. The Inspector of Prisons engaged an independent consultant to assess the resources needed for their office. The review set out the need for a future Preferred Operational Model (“POM”) to be implemented, supported by enhanced resourcing. It went further to recommended increasing the staff numbers from 5 to 14 staff (including the Chief Inspector). Acknowledging this, the 2020 budget was increased by €700,000 bringing it to €1.2million and the 2021 budget by a further circa €750,000 bringing the overall budget for the OIP to €1.95 million. These increases allow the Inspector of Prisons to recruit additional staff.
Competitions for the recruitment of additional staff are nearly completed. This will significantly increase the capacity of the office from its current capacity. My Department will continue to work with the Inspector of Prisons in this regard and in that Office’s additional responsibilities and obligations that will flow from the ratification of OPCAT.
