Written Answers. - Whitaker Report.
Bertie Ahern
Ceist:
167
Mr. B. Ahern
asked the
Minister for Justice
the Government's attitude to the Whitaker report on prison reform; the recommendations, if any, that have been implemented; and the further recommendations, if any, she intends to implement.
[14602/96]
The report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System, chaired by Dr. T.K. Whitaker, was published in 1985.
The report contained, on the one hand, recommendations which consisted of broad statements of principle such as the need to respect fundamental human rights of persons who may be in prison and that persons should be sent to prison as a punishment and not for punishment. Second, there were recommendations which the committee regarded as important in the context of our penal system. Some of these specific recommendations were very significant, for example, the committee believed that prisons should be only used as a last resort and in this context they recommended that greater use be made of alternatives to custody in various forms. This has been acted upon and there are now several thousand offenders availing of such alternatives to custody. The recommendation regarding the appointment of a director of prison medical services was also implemented in October 1990. Another area of concern to the committee was the question of the administration of long-term sentences including life sentences. With the approval of the Government, the Minister established such a group under the then chairmanship of Dr. Whitaker towards the end of 1989. This group, known as the Sentence Review Group, is charged with reviewing the cases of offenders who have served a total of seven years imprisonment. This group's recommendations have generally been accepted by the Minster and the process is considered to be working very well. The committee also made recommendations concerning prison accommodation and recommended that improvements be implemented. Major progress has since been made in this regard.
An important recommendation of the Whitaker report was that a prisons board with responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the prisons be established. The programme for Government,A Government of Renewal, also contains a commitment to examine the question of establishing a prisons board to manage the day-to-day running of the prisons.
In pursuance of the commitment to examine the issues of structural reform of the management of prisons, contained in the programme for Government, I directed that the issue of a prison board be examined afresh by my Department. Outline proposals have been developed and conveyed to the Department of Finance. These proposals are being considered at present with a view to the matter being placed before Government in the near future.
Since the publication of the Whitaker report several changes have occurred in our prison system. One of the most striking of these has been a sharp increase in the numbers being committed to prison. The daily average number in custody in 1984 was less than 1,400. Now, however, there are a total of over 2,100 in custody on a daily basis. This drastic increase in numbers has brought particular problems for the prison service and for this and other reasons it was decided that it was time to re-assess the situation, setting out our policies and plans for the future and also indicating where we stand regarding the implementation of the Whitaker report. In this regard, The Management of Offenders, A Five Year Plan was published in June 1994. It contains a detailed and up-to-date assessment of the difficulties now facing the prison system and sets out our plans to deal with it. This policy document deals frankly with problems facing the prisons system today such as drugs, suicides, overcrowding and the problems raised by communicable diseases, in particular HIV and AIDS. Along with the plan a revised draft set of Rules for the Government of Prisons was published. The current rules date from 1947 and are considered to be in urgent need of review at this stage. The five-year plan, while it endorses and emphasises many of the recommendations of the Whitaker report, should also be seen as having built on and developed further the work started by the committee of inquiry. The Whitaker report will of course continue to be regarded as having made an invaluable and seminal contribution to the development of penal policy in this State.
