Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2022
457. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of female prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor each night in Limerick Prison during the months of September, October and to date in November 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56848/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra458. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of female prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor each night in the Dóchas centre during the months of September, October and to date in November 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56847/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra485. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice the number of female prisoners who are sleeping on mattresses laid on the floor each night in the Dóchas Centre and Limerick Prison, respectively during September, October and to date in November 2022; the reason that this is occurring; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56651/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 457, 458 and 485 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts. As such the Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time, and the prison system is, of course, subject to peaks and troughs. Numbers are particularly high when the Courts are at their busiest and following the return to a more normal level of Court activity following the lifting of Covid restrictions, committal numbers have increased across the prison system.
Where the number of prisoners exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, Prison Service officials make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured Temporary Release. Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made.
As the Deputy will be aware the Government has provided significant capital funding to the Irish Prison Service in order to enhance the existing prison infrastructure. The construction of a new female prison is currently underway in Limerick Prison, this will provide 22 additional female cell spaces. This new accommodation is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2023.
I can further advise the Deputy that my Department has been working closely with the Director General of the Irish Prison Service to ensure both a safe working environment for staff and the safety and security of prisoners in custody. We are also taking a number of short and medium term steps to address the issue of increasing prison numbers.
Separately, 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.
Sentencing is a matter solely within the discretion of the trial judge, having regard to the circumstances of the case and of the accused and subject to any limits as may be prescribed by law for a particular offence. While these proposals do not change this, they are intended to strengthen the options available to judges when they are considering cases, to facilitate the effective and efficient use of community sanctions by the courts, and to ensure that the courts have a wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences.
In addition, as part of delivering the Penal Policy action plan, the need to ensure the continued availability of modern prison facilities with adequate capacity will continue to be central to the work of the Irish Prison Service and will be core to the development of the new Irish Prison Service Capital Strategy 2023.
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of female prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor each night in the Dóchas Centre and Limerick Prison during September, October and to date in November 2022 has been provided by the Irish Prison Service and is set out in the table below. As can be seen from the information provided, there have been no incidences of prisoners sleeping on mattresses in the Dóchas centre during the period referred to.
