Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I was looking forward to this debate but I am not so sure now. Having heard the presentations I feel seriously depressed and it is only 9.30 in the morning. This is the first of our modules on this topic. It is great that we are airing these issues because they do not get enough attention. This is a vast area for discussion. It is hard to get a handle on these matters because we are only starting off. We as a committee might have to be a little strategic on how we deal with this area. I believe sending people to prison does not work. It is not cheap and is harmful. Our automatic starting point should be providing alternatives to prison. I am constantly surprised that the austerity agenda has not developed this view more because society would be better off on a whole number of fronts if we did not have prisons or had substantially fewer of them. Understanding the circumstances that lead people to prison is key to addressing this issue.

Last week, Mr. Michael Donnellan, the director general of the Irish Prison Service, attended the Committee of Public Accounts. He said that two thirds of inmates have some form of addiction, either drug or alcohol related. A large proportion of the prison population have seriously psychotic mental health problems. These are the people whom society previously put into asylums. Some of the prison population should not be in prison at all. They suffer with health issues and that is how they should be treated. The committee needs to consider these aspects.

In terms of sentencing people who have been found guilty of drug offences or whatever, there is no non-custodial treatment penalty in Ireland and the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act allows for that to happen.

Rather than people being sent to prison, they agree to sign up to a counselling or addiction programme to get them drug free and they have supports. However, that does not seem to exist. Only one person at a time can be taken from a prison to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum when there are 30 other seriously psychotic prisoners who urgently need treatment. When that prisoner comes out after several weeks, the next fellow can go in but by that stage, the fellow who had been sent back is probably ready to go back in again. The harm being done in that regard is criminal. How does the Irish Penal Reform Trust see that element being addressed?

There is no doubt that when a woman goes to prison, the impact on society is far greater. Studies have shown that when a man goes to prison, the family pulls together with the woman saving money to make sure the man has his smokes and the children can visit him. When a woman goes to prison, the children quite often end up in care or the family unit’s accommodation is lost. The idea of no prison for women or of small community residential units, replicating family life while maintaining links with people’s families, are key to the rehabilitation process. Are there measures the Irish Penal Reform Trust believes should be pushed to keep contact with the family? When someone goes to prison, it is stressful for their relatives. If keeping the family connection helps someone not to re-offend, what can be done to bring the family unit on board?

I put down many parliamentary questions on medical care in prisons. Many of the medical positions in the prisons are vacant or are filled by locums. What is the problem with this? Is it a terms and conditions matter? The replies to my parliamentary questions state it is not a question of resources but still the positions are not filled.

In getting a sensible policy on prisons which helps everyone, the media must be called into question as they are responsible for holding back serious discussions on this issue. They sensationalise crime and those in prison. They think of demeaning names and slang for them, which is used to sell newspapers against the background of declining newspaper readership, and they are completely irresponsible. In my experience, some people in the Department who would push for reform are afraid that they will be portrayed in the media as being soft on crime and will receive the full wrath of the public as a result. The media should be called to account for their irresponsible coverage.