Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
879. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice her views on whether it is discriminatory that there is no open prison for women, as is outlined in reports from the prison inspectorate, visiting committee, IPRT reports, chaplains report, and the Oireachtas Justice Committee; and the action that she will take to resolve this issue and stop the discrimination. [55285/22]
View answerI know that female offenders represent a particularly vulnerable group within the prison system and I can assure the Deputy that the Prison Service is acutely aware of the challenges that these vulnerable women face. The particular needs of women prisoners is reflected in how our modern prison facilities are developed.
The Dóchas Centre, which accommodates the majority of female prisoners in Ireland, was purposely built and specifically designed for women. A particular focus of the design of the prison was to ensure that the women accommodated in the centre had access to a regime that mirrored, as much as possible, living in ordinary accommodation and thus supported the women's reintegration to society, which is a key objective of the prisons system.
Likewise, the new purpose built female prison in Limerick, which will provide accommodation for 50 prisoners and is expected to be operational by the end of this year, has been specifically designed to cater to the needs of female prisoners.
The design concept was influenced by best practice in prison design and similar rehabilitation facilities internationally. It is designed around the principles of normalisation, progression and rehabilitation, underpinned by a therapeutic environment to support women in prison to reintegrate back into society on completion of their sentence. It includes a mix of accommodation and a mother and baby unit. In addition, it will provide improved facilities for families visiting.
Consideration was given to the development of an open centre for women by a Joint Probation Service/Irish Prison Service working group. The conclusion of this was that it was more appropriate to develop and use step down facilities for women and this is the approach that has been progressed.
The Outlook Programme, which promotes the rehabilitation and re-integration of women leaving prison or on Probation Service supervision who have accommodation needs and require structured community supports, is run in joint partnership with the Probation Service and managed by Focus Ireland. It supports women who pose a low risk to society to gradually re-integrate into the community. The Programme opened in May 2019 and to date, 30 women have been supported by the project.
In addition, the Abigail Centre provides accommodation and other related services for women. NOVAS Initiatives provide supported temporary accommodation for 40 women in the main block of the building. In a separate but connected unit, called Tús Nua, accommodation is provided for 15 women and is managed by De Paul Ireland. Tús Nua work closely with the Prison and Probation Service to support women offenders to reintegrate into the community on their release from custody and is funded by my Department through the Probation Service.
Separately, it may interest the Deputy to know that the Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. In respect of delivering on this commitment, I recently published the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024.
The review seeks to find the balance between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community based sanctions are more appropriate in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity.
The review also includes a priority action to develop and expand the range of community based sanctions, including alternatives to imprisonment. As part of this it commits to build on the joint Prison Service / Probation Service strategy “An Effective Response to Women who Offend” and incorporate the Probation Service 2021 “Best Practice Approach” to scope the development and explore the feasibility of a number of actions to work for positive outcomes for women who offend.
