The Joint Committee on Justice meets for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Irish Prison Service Bill and separately of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill.

The meeting will take place in 2 parts in Committee Room 1 of Leinster House at 4pm and will hear from:

Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Irish Prison Service Bill

• Representatives from Prison Officers Association
• Representatives from Irish Penal Reform Trust
• Officials from Dept. of Justice

Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill

• Representatives from The Bar of Ireland
• Representatives from Irish Criminal Bar Association
• Mr Darren Lalor B.L. and Mr. William Morrin BL
• Representatives from Safe Ireland
• Representatives from The Probation Service
• Representatives from Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI)
• Officials from Dept. of Justice

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Committee Cathaoirleach James Lawless said: “Our meeting today allows the Committee to scrutinise these 2 pieces of very important legislation.

Under the Irish Prison Service Bill, the functions of the IPS will include providing safe and secure custody, upholding human rights, and supporting prisoner rehabilitation. Under the draft law, the IPS is charged with providing services and activities to support the health, self-respect and spiritual, moral and mental well-being of prisoners. It must also provide prisoners with educational, training and other developmental opportunities.

In the second part of our meeting we will look at proposed legislation contained in the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill that will enable the courts to make the granting of legal aid conditional on an assessment of income by the Legal Aid Board (LAB). The legislation will also transfer administrative operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme from the Department of Justice to the LAB. It is envisaged that the Bill will modernise the operation of the legal-aid scheme, and introduce strengthened oversight and governance structures.”

The meeting can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

The Joint Committee on Justice has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.