Ms Caron McCaffrey:

I thank the committee for the invitation to meet it today. As Ms McPhillips stated, 2020 has been a challenging year for our service, but I am proud to say that it is a challenge that has been embraced by our staff and those in our care. We have worked together to chart our way through this pandemic successfully. Critical to our success has been our experience in dealing with previous outbreaks of infectious diseases in prisons, including tuberculosis. We have used those lessons to build robust infection control structures at national and local levels. This work forms a small part of a broader agenda of enhanced risk management within our service.

Deputies will be aware of the recent report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CPT, following its visit to Ireland in 2019. I welcome the CPT's acknowledgement of the ongoing positive steps that were taken by our service since its 2014 visit. The IPS has been on a journey of transformation, and this transformational journey touches all facets of our organisation, including security, prison regimes, governance, risk management and financial control.

In September, the Comptroller and Auditor General published the report on the accounts of the public service, which included a chapter on catering and ancillary services in our prisons. I thank him for this important and valuable piece of work. The report made a number of recommendations, and I wish to mention some of the actions we are taking in that regard.

The provision of high-quality, nutritious food for prisoners is an essential operation within our prisons on a daily basis. The total annual catering cost for prisoners in 2019 was €8.5 million. The average daily cost of food per prisoner has changed little in recent years from €5.41 in 2016 to €5.66 in 2019. This differs little from costs incurred ten years earlier in 2009 when the average cost for per prisoner per day was €5.67. Prison demographics, such as age, addiction levels, fitness, poverty and homelessness, can influence quantities consumed by people in custody.

The IPS has introduced a range of measures to strengthen and enhance the oversight of food procurement and supply. In 2019, in order to strengthen controls, I reintroduced a catering supervisory grade with direct responsibility for food ordering, stock control, compliance and prisoner training in all closed prisons. The service is also developing a new procurement requisitioning system, which will go live in early 2021 and will deliver a better segregation of duties in ordering, delivery and payment. Further enhancements, including the introduction of food usage reports and more detailed expenditure reports, have also been introduced on a monthly basis and are being monitored by our headquarters. These actions will greatly enhance the oversight and monitoring of catering and food usage in each location.

Regarding voluntary mess committees, we have recently completed a governance review of their operation and are implementing stronger governance arrangements, which includes the signing of an annual service agreement. This agreement sets out clear arrangements, including the provision of an annual statement of compliance and the preparation and submission of annual audited accounts.

The report has made a number of recommendations on the operation of prison tuck shops, including the updating of shop accounting systems, and work is ongoing in this regard. A tender for a new inventory management system, which will integrate with our financial and reporting systems, will be published before the end of this year. The new system will automate stock management processes, thereby delivering better stock controls and providing management information to allow for better analysis of stock purchases.

The report made recommendations about the operation of the prisoner assist programme funds. I wish to advise the committee that, earlier this year, I decided to eliminate this programme and replace it with a centrally managed Vote-funded programme for prisoner initiatives. This will eliminate the need to run prison shops on a profit-making basis and allow the introduction of a new pricing system, which will see all non-tobacco products sold at almost-cost price. This will benefit prisoners and their families greatly and eliminate the need to increase the prisoner gratuity payment, which has not been increased for a significant time. Separately, profits from the sale of tobacco-related products will continue to provide funding for a new prisoner hardship fund, which will be managed by governors and administered through the prisoner account management system.

The Secretary General and I will be happy to take whatever questions committee members may have on the 2019 appropriation accounts and the chapter in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report.