Dáil debates
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Priority Questions.
Temporary Release of Prisoners
3:00 pm
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Justice; Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners granted temporary release from custodial institutions in April 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19717/10]
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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It is not possible to provide figures to the Deputy for all forms of temporary release as this would require the manual examination of records. Such an examination would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort. It could not be justified in current circumstances when there are other significant demands on resources.
However, I am advised by the director general of the Prison Service that figures for granted weekly reviewable temporary release in April 2010 represents an average of 36 prisoners granted temporary release per day, 0.86% of the average number in custody in April. The average daily number of persons on temporary release for the month of April was 836 persons, approximately 16.3%.
The Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003, provides that the Minister may approve the temporary release of a sentenced prisoner. The Prison Service utilises temporary release as part of its programme of sentence management. Temporary release arrangements operate similarly to a system of parole, which is a feature of prison systems worldwide. It is an important vehicle for reintegrating an offender into the community in a planned way.
Each case is examined on its merits and the safety of the public is paramount when decisions are made. In addition, all releases are subject to conditions, which in the majority of cases, include a requirement of the offender to report regularly to his or her Garda station. One of the main issues taken into consideration when deciding whether a prisoner is suitable for temporary release is public safety. Any offender who breaches his or her conditions may be arrested and returned to prison immediately by the Garda.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister's reply is yet another letdown for the House. He claims it would involve too much effort for his officials and himself to provide the House with the important information on how many prisoners were on temporary release in April. It is also an important question when one considers the current prison crisis. That the Minister does not know or even bother to find out how many prisoners are on temporary release is a further indication of the serious crisis in the prison system.
There were just under 1,000 prisoners on temporary release in April, representing 16% of the prison population. Recently, Judge Thomas E. O'Donnell of the District Court who, after the careful consideration of a case in Limerick, handed down a person a 15 month-prison sentence in Mountjoy Prison. How does the Minister explain to the judge and the people why this prisoner was released after two days of serving his sentence?
There is a prison crisis evolving around the Minister but he is the only person in the State who does not recognise it as such. Fr. Peter McVerry, an eminent worker in the prison system, claims this is the worst crisis he has seen in more than 35 years. So too has the Minister's own appointment for inspector of prisons. What plans has the Minister to deal with a crisis which sees prison governors and former Government supporters appointed to prison committees resigning?
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy should conclude as I want to call the Minister.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister is the last person to see the prison system crumbling all around him.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I do not deny there are problems in some of our prisons. I have said this many times in the House and that we are endeavouring to deal with them. I am not going to take political criticism, however, from Deputy Charles Flanagan. The last time his party was in government, it did not build one prison cell in its four years in office. It actually cancelled the building of the Dóchas and Castlerea prisons.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Yes it did because Deputy Quinn was the Minister for Finance at the time and I recall he cancelled those projects.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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That was in the last century.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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One cannot build a prison overnight. In my tenure as Minister, 1,750 prison spaces have been built. Deputy Charles Flanagan always claims I closed the Spike Island facility.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Yes and the Curragh facility.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Spike Island and Curragh facilities would have not lasted a day if they were tested for the infringement of human rights. These were not only uneconomic to run but their conditions would have infringed upon people's human rights.
The moneys realised when the Shanganagh facility was sold have been used to buy the Thornton Hall site. It is ironic the Deputy is criticising the Government's prison plans when at every twist and turn he has opposed the building of Thornton Hall, which is ultimately the long-term solution.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Minister will conclude because I want to give Deputy Charles Flanagan a supplementary question.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister wasted â¬40 million of taxpayers' money for the Thornton Hall site.
Our prisons are dominated by gang bosses who continue to operate from behind prison bars. Mobile telephones and drugs are rampant in the prisons in spite of the Minister's repeated assurances that they would be tackled. The Minister cannot inform the House how many prisoners are on temporary release at any one time. I would have imagined there was some level of computerisation of prisoner records but obviously it cannot be done.
Will the Minister carry out an analysis over the summer of 2010 as to what persons are in prison due to immigration detention, mental health problems, non-payment of dog licences, television licences, civil debt and fines? Will he do this before he embarks on any further work on the prison building programme?
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I call the Minister for his final reply on this question.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister has already wasted â¬40 million of taxpayers' money on Thornton Hall which is now no more than a white elephant. He promised a slimmed-down and phased-in programme for Thornton Hall.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I have called the Minister. It would be appreciated if the Deputy could facilitate the Chair.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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There is a crisis in our prison system yet the Minister, regrettably, has no plan to resolve it.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please Deputy, allow the Minister.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy asked the number of prisoners on temporary release in April 2010. I gave him the figure, 836 persons.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Why did he not say that at the beginning of his reply?
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Considering there are approximately 4,100 persons in prison, this averages out at 0.86%.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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No, that is not the average. The Minister is massaging the figures.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please allow the Minister without interruption.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The figure is actually 16%.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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No. Up to 36 prisoners are granted temporary release per day which is 0.86% of the average number in custody in April. It is a bit ironic for Deputy Charles Flanagan to criticise these figures considering the figures when his party was last in office.
It has been suggested Ireland's prison statistics are out of line with other countries. In 2008, the prison population was well below the average of any other western European country. I accept the figure may have gone up in the meantime but it is still below the EU average.
Temporary release is used in certain circumstances to allow people to reintegrate into society.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister has abused this facility.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please allow the Minister to reply to the question.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Charles Flanagan is the very person who recently suggested that instead of cutting back on remission by 25%, more avenues should be given to encourage people to behave in prison. He is speaking with a forked tongue on this matter.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am not. There is a crisis in the prison system yet the Minister has no understanding of it.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please allow the Minister to conclude.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister I have endeavoured to work with the temporary release system, provided the Garda and the Prison Service are satisfied the general public's safety is not at risk, to reintegrate people into society.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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We must move on to Question No. 4.
Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I make no apologies for that.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister does not even engage with the probation and welfare service.