Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 May 2022
165. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice further to the matter of unpublished reports by the inspector of prisons, if she will set out the specific processes that are impacting on the publication of unpublished reports of an organisation (details supplied), that is disciplinary, grievance, audit, financial, protected disclosure and data protection. [26891/22]
View answer166. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of unpublished inspector-of-prisons reports that are in her possession; and the reasons for them remaining unpublished. [26892/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 166 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 two 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 these report at this time, or to comment on the considerations which prevent publication.
In addition to these reports, I received one Death in Custody report on the 14 April 2022 and a further two on the 19 May 2022. I also received the Inspector of Prisons Annual Report for 2021 on the 19 May 2022. These reports are not yet published due to their recent receipt in my Department. However, I can assure the Deputy that all of these reports are currently receiving attention from my officials and I plan to publish them in due course.
