John O'Donoghue
Ceist:3 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice when additional prison spaces will be provided. [13748/95]
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Prison Accommodation.
Seán Doherty
Ceist:21 Mr. Doherty asked the Minister for Justice the cost to date of the proposed prison at Castlerea, County Roscommon. [13766/95]
Desmond J. O'Malley
Ceist:29 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Justice the Government's intentions in relation to the provision of extra prison spaces in view of the recent postponement of the Castlerea project and in view of an anticipated rise in the number of people who will be committed to prison this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13803/95]
Robert Molloy
Ceist:34 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for Justice the Government's intentions in relation to the provision of extra prison spaces in view of the recent postponement of the Castlerea project and in view of an anticipated rise in the number of people who will be committed to prison this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13807/95]
Robert Molloy
Ceist:50 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for Justice the full cost to the State of the construction of a prison in Castlerea, County Roscommon, which project was postponed; the ongoing costs accumulating in view of this cancelled project; the proposals, if any, she has regarding the abandoned construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13801/95]
Ivor Callely
Ceist:114 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice the number and location of prison places available; the identified number of prison places required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13740/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 21, 29, 34, 50 and 114 together.
It is common knowledge that there is pressure on the existing prison accommodation. However, the provision of additional prison accommodation is not the only way to tackle this problem. As indicated in the Whitaker report and reflected in my Department's policy document The Management of Offenders — A Five Year Plan, imprisonment should be imposed only as a last resort and an extensive range of alternatives should be available. I am examining the possibilities for additional use of non-custodial options for treatment of offenders and in this regard I am currently preparing a submission to my colleague, the Minister for Finance.
As a consequence of the peace process, some prison accommodation will be freed up, but it is necessary to take account of possible demands on that, such as the demand arising under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which comes into effect from 1 November this year.
The question of optimising the use of existing accommodation and of providing additional prison places continues to be examined in my Department.
In parallel with my Department's examination, Deputies will be aware, that on 28 June this year I established the interdepartmental committee, consisting of representatives of the Departments of the Taoiseach, Finance, Justice, Health, Education, Enterprise and Employment and the Office of Public Works to examine all aspects of the Castlerea Prison project and report to me before the end of the year. I have recently requested and received from the committee an interim report. I am examining that report at present. On completion of my own review of the situation and on full consideration of the report of the interdepartmental committee, I will then decide what course of action might be appropriate.
As regards existing prison places, the position is that a total of 2,210 places are currently available as follows:—
|
Institution |
No. Offender Places |
|
Mountjoy (Male) |
612 |
|
Mountjoy (Female) |
40 |
|
Limerick (Male) |
120 |
|
Limerick (Female) |
12 |
|
Cork |
250 |
|
Arbour Hill |
130 |
|
Portlaoise |
207 |
|
(actual places but the availability is somewhat less) |
|
|
Shelton Abbey |
54 |
|
Training Unit |
96 |
|
Loughan House |
85 |
|
Fort Mitchel |
102 |
|
St. Patrick's |
122 |
|
Shanganagh Castle |
60 |
|
Wheatfield |
320 |
Finally, turning to the matter of costs incurred for the Castlerea prison project, my Department's expenditure on the project to 30 August 1995 has been £1,204,000 approximately in respect of the provision of a prison perimeter wall and associated works. My advice is that there are no direct costs accumulating for my Department arising from the deferment of the project. I am informed that the Department of Health in conjunction with the Western Health Board have, in relation to the closure of St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea, approved a package of developments for the Roscommon Mental Health Services costing £3.5 million, which includes the provision for Castlerea of a psycho-geriatric unit, a high support hostel, two medium support hostels and a vocational training workshop.
Does the Minister accept the urgent need for additional prison accommodation? Fifty prisoners approximately are granted temporary release every week and there has been an increase to 4,404 in the number of bail offenders in 1994. Does the Minister intend to provide prison accommodation? Did she ask the Minister for Finance if the proposal for the prisons was cancelled or deferred?
I do not know how many times I have answered the Deputy's questions and replied to this matter on the Adjournment. The Castlerea project is deferred, not cancelled. It was a decision of Government to defer it. The interdepartmental committee is continuing its work and must report finally to me before the end of this year on its assessment. I accept and acknowledge that there is huge pressure on prison places. The Deputy can rest assured that I am as aware of that as he, and any decisions I make will take that into account.
Will the Minister explain why she had no difficulty in announcing the provision of prison places without an assessment, but subsequent to the Minister for Finance's decision in her absence to cancel the proposal she decided an assessment was necessary?
As a new Minister, when I first answered questions at Question Time I responded to questions on Castlerea prison and stated that Castlerea prison was proceeding and a very small amount of money was available to my Department in 1996. There is an inference that had the previous Government remained in office, the prison would have magically appeared overnight. It would not have, of course. When I became Minister the planning was at a very early stage and tenders were being sought. The work proceeded. In view of such issues as the peace process, the release of prisoners and so on, there was a need to examine the full process of providing prison places and adjusting the number of places that might become available because of the peace process and to generally look at the non-custodial area. That examination will be completed very shortly and I will bring my decisions to Government.
Will the Minister confirm that only a very small number of places will become available as a result of the peace process and what is required is 600 prison places if bail restrictions are to be brought in? Does she accept that there is no need for an assessment but that it is time to proceed with prison places?
Places will become available because of the peace process but the number will not be large, as the Deputy said. I have seen the figure of 600 in reports and it has been stated in this House, but I suggest that figure was also available to the Fianna Fáil Government if it wanted to act on the matter. I will bring proposals about bail to Government.
I will work towards ensuring that fewer people will become involved in the revolving door syndrome so that we can have prison space adequate to our needs. The increase in the need for prison space has been growing steadily for years and did not just happen when I took office in December 1994. I am taking what steps I can to tackle the problem.
Liz O'Donnell
Ceist:6 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice the conditions which attach to an order of full temporary release of offenders prior to the completion of their sentences; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13919/95]
Full temporary release is granted to offenders close to the end of their sentence and includes the requirements to be of good behaviour, to be of sober habits, and to report to the Garda Síochána at regular periods — usually daily.
Other conditions may also be stipulated as appropriate to individual cases. This system has been available by statute since 1960 under the Criminal Justice Act of that year, and has been operated by all previous Ministers for Justice since then.
As with other forms of temporary release, should an offender fail to comply with the conditions he or she may be arrested without warrant and immediately returned to custody. The penalty for a breach of any of the conditions of temporary release is imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
I presume the good behaviour stipulation would apply to prisoners who have been granted temporary release. In relation to that, will the Minister justify the reasons she had no figures for the numbers who had reoffended while on temporary release? If it is a condition of temporary release that one should be of good behaviour one would imagine that should include not reoffending. How can the Minister justify the absence of statistics on how many people had reoffended while on temporary release? Surely it is in the public interest that the Minister and the House can be assured that people granted temporary release on her authority do not reoffend? Who is monitoring the adherence or breach of the conditions?
As I said previously in response to a parliamentary question, some statistics in the Department are not maintained in a way in which they can be immediately retrieved. That is not satisfactory but information technology and technology generally is being implemented in the prisons, in the courts and in the Garda Síochána in order to improve the situation. I inherited a Department that did not have the facilities to retrieve the statistical information available.
There are a number of forms of temporary release: full temporary release obviously means what it says and the sentence is not shortened in any way but prisoners are being allowed out earlier than their term in order to allow them to socialise again and to get used to the idea of being out. It also allows them to be monitored to see how they are settling in. In recent years, not just this year, an extra consideration for full temporary release is the extra pressure on prison places. It is as plain to me as to everybody else that has been part of the reason. However, the full temporary release system has existed since 1960 and would exist even if we had spare accommodation because it is seen as a system that is good for prisoners. The impression is given that if we had enough prison places there would not be full timporary release but that is not the case and temporary releases have been granted for all sorts of reasons since 1960.
The Minister states that this has been applied since 1960 but would she not admit that the number of people so released on full temporary release has increased from 1,979 in 1990 to 3,564 in 1993? Is the Minister happy that nobody in her Department or in the prison service knows how many of the 3,564 people so released in 1993 have reoffended? What will the Minister do about this completely unregulated interference with custodial sentences, which was recently criticised by the Prison Officers Association? As the person with responsibility for the continuation of the practice of interfering with custodial sentences, what does the Minister intend doing to provide the House with information as to the adherence to and monitoring of the conditions for temporary release? What is the point of having conditions attached to temporary release orders if there is no monitoring of the adherence or of the breaching of those conditions?
First I want to correct an implication, which I am sure Deputy O'Donnell did not intend, that I and a series of Ministers since 1960, including Ministers for the Deputy's party, interfered with the judicial process in implementing a system of temporary release which is allowed by statute. We were not interfering.
Ministers were interfering with custodial sentences.
In passing sentence judges know the implications of the early release system. I would ask Deputies not to use the word "interfere" or imply that successive Ministers have interfered with sentences over the last 30 years.
This is an executive power, the Minister's power.
The judges take the system into account when passing sentence.
The Minister does not know what they are doing when they are released.
There is some confusion.
It is farcical.
I agree that far too many people are being released.
It is the Minister's responsibility.
I know. I have taken steps.
What are they?
I have already told the House.
I did not hear the Minister.
Perhaps Deputy O'Donnell is mixing up two sets of statistics.
I am not. I have them here.
Persons on full temporary release usually have a small portion of their sentence still to serve. Once that period is up, they are no longer part of the prison system. In the interim between the granting of full temporary release and the completion of the sentence, they are obliged by conditions laid down, for example, reporting to a Garda station or being under the care of the probation and welfare service. There are no figures relating to persons who are no longer within the system because once their sentences are completed they are no longer under the control of the system. Deputy O'Donnell's question related to the number of people granted early release who reoffend. I do not know the figures relating to those who have left the system. We are in the process of compiling the figures relating to the period between the granting of full temporary release and the expiration of the sentence.