Catherine Murphy
Question:609. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she will publish the Inspector of Prisons' Report into the Dóchas Centre. [17962/22]
View answerTuesday, 5 April 2022
Questions (609, 610, 631)
Catherine Murphy
Question:610. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of reports by the Inspector of Prisons that relate to the Dóchas Centre that have not been published to date; and if she will provide the rationale for not publishing same. [17963/22]
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Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:631. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice if she intends to publish the report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons on the Dóchas Centre submitted to her on 15 February 2022 and carried out under section 3(2) of the Prisons Act ; the reason for the delay in publishing the report; the actions she intends taking on foot of the receipt of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18348/22]
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 609, 610 and 631 together.
The Office of the Inspector of Prisons was established under the Prisons Act 2007 and is independent in how it carries out its functions. The Inspector's key role is to carry out regular inspections of prisons.
There are currently 3 reports submitted to me by the Inspector of Prisons which relate to Mountjoy Women’s Prison (Dóchas Centre) and which have not yet been published.
The Inspector of Prisons' three day monitoring report of the Dóchas Centre was received in my office in August 2020.
The Inspector was also asked to carry out an investigation into matters arising in the Dóchas Centre, under section 31(2) of the Prisons Act. As the Deputy will be aware it was always my intention to consider both of these reports together.
The Inspector submitted the section 31(2) investigation report to me on the 15 February 2022 and it is currently being examined by my officials. Based on legal advice received by my Department, it is not proposed to publish this report at this time.
In addition, as the Deputy will be aware, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to monitor the situation within prisons for prisoners and staff, the Inspector suspended her 2021 general inspection programme and instead embarked on a COVID-19 focused inspection schedule, designed to provide a human rights-based assessment of the response of the Irish Prison Service to the pandemic. Eight of these reports were published during 2021. The final set of the thematic reports dealing with the following prisons: Loughan House Open Centre; Midlands; Castlerea; and Mountjoy Women’s (Dóchas Centre), have been submitted to my Department and will be published shortly.
Question No. 610 answered with Question No. 609.