asked the Minister for Justice when the last comprehensive Government review of our penal system took place.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Penal System Review.
11.
The penal system is under continuous review by and under the direction of successive Ministers for Justice. A formal review by some specially-appointed committee has not been carried out and I do not accept that any such review is necessary or useful or even reasonably practicable.
Such a review would be likely to take many years to complete and, far from being useful, would in my view be the opposite both because it would mean diverting staff from their normal and necessary duties and because it would tend to inhibit any change during the years while the review was going on.