Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 January 2024
457. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of reports submitted to her office by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons that have not yet been published; the date of submission of each of these reports; when such reports will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3074/24]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Inspector of Prisons is a statutory office holder, independent in the performance of his functions, in accordance with the Prisons Act 2007.
Section 31(1) of the Prisons Act 2007 places an obligation on the Inspector of Prisons to carry out regular inspections of prisons in Ireland. Under section 31(2) the Inspector may, and shall if so requested by the Minister for Justice, investigate any matter arising out of the management or operation of a prison and shall submit a report to the Minister on any such investigation.
Since 2012, the Inspector of Prisons has been responsible for preparing a report on the death of any person in the custody of the Irish Prison Service, including any person who has been on temporary release for less than one month prior to their death. These reports are laid by me before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published on gov.ie. Subsequently, the Inspector publishes them on his own website.
Four inspection reports and four reports relating to deaths in custody are awaiting publication. As I previously indicated to the Deputy, I was not in a position to publish a number of reports based on legal advice. These reports were received between August 2020 and December 2023. The current position is that I expect to be in position to publish six reports shortly while two remain unpublished on foot of legal advice.
