One size fits all philosophy is not appropriate for prison environments -Justice & Equality Committee report

Overcrowding is still a problem in some prisons, the report says and it recommends the capping of prisoner numbers in each institution, along with the adoption of a clear strategy by the Government to reduce the prison population by half over a fixed time scale.

The Report will be launched tomorrow morning Thursday 10th May at 10am in the Audio Visual Room, Leinster House.

Other recommendations and conclusions include:

· Prisons should aim for an accommodation policy of one person, one cell, and the necessary resources should be made available to realise this aspiration.

· Proposed solutions to reducing the number of women in prison – for example, by providing a step-down unit – reflect the failed institutionalised approaches of the past. Large hostel-style accommodation post-release or as part of a step-down programme will not dramatically break the cycle of homelessness or poverty. The Committee would prefer to see the approach such as Housing First being adopted more widely.

· Young adults in prison, aged 18-24, should be recognised as a distinct group by making them the responsibility of the Irish Youth Justice Service, under the auspices of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

· The Committee recommends the establishment of a completely independent mechanism for the consideration of prisoner complaints, as well as a new individual complaints procedure.

· The Committee calls for the speedy introduction of legislation providing for the inspection of all places of detention in the Justice area – including prisons, Garda stations and courts; and for the immediate ratification thereafter of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture.

· Mother and Baby Units should be developed within the Irish prison system, along the lines of those in some women’s prisons in England and Wales.

· All prisoners with addiction issues should have access to appropriate rehabilitation facilities within the penal system.

· In order to fully address the complex, interrelated problems of drug addiction, homelessness and recidivism, a more integrated, cross-Departmental approach should be adopted.

· Education and training facilities should be available to prisoners to equip them with the necessary skills for re-entry to society after release.

· Solitary confinement should only be used in extreme circumstances, and should be phased out over the next number of years.

· The emphasis of a progressive penal and sentencing policy should be on investment in community-based sanctions and non-custodial sentences.

· Garda diversion and community projects should be expanded to offer alternatives to incarceration.
 
· There is a clear need to reform the parole system and place it on a statutory footing.

· Consideration ought to be given to a model adopted in Canada and the United States - a victim surcharge system where, if an offender commits a crime, they have to pay a victim surcharge as opposed to a fine.

Committee Chairman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said: “In 2013, our predecessor Committee of the 31st Dáil published its Report on Penal Reform, which made a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of both prison-based rehabilitation and the wider penal system.

Notwithstanding the progress made in the area of penal reform since the publication of the 2013 report, the current Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality deemed it appropriate to readdress the issue in the 32nd Dáil, and we have made it a priority issue in our Work Programme.

The Committee held a series of public meetings in 2017 with stakeholder groups on the subject of penal reform in order to better understand the issues surrounding the topic and how best to improve the situation.

Over the course of our engagement with stakeholders, it became abundantly clear that there is systematic overuse of imprisonment as punishment in Ireland, and that sentencing alternatives need to be explored. It also became clear that conditions in prisons themselves are unacceptable, and that far more needs to be done to rehabilitate offenders, reduce recidivism, and minimise the impact of crime on victims and the community.”

Read the report here:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/joint_committee_on_justice_and_equality/reports/2018/2018-05-10_report-on-penal-reform-and-sentencing_en.pdf