Ms Fíona Ní Chinnéide:

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, for the invitation to meet with the joint committee on the topic of Travellers' experiences in prison. The Irish Penal Reform Trust is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for rights in the penal system and progressive reform of Irish penal policy. Our core message is that a just and humane penal system that protects and promotes human rights, equality and social justice will contribute to safer and more equal communities for everyone.

In recent years we have conducted research on minority groups in the penal system, including women, Travellers, LGBT people, older people and people with disabilities in prison. Of most relevance are the findings of our 2014 report, Travellers in the Irish Prison System, along with our current research project on access to rights for migrants and minority ethnic groups in the penal system, which is due for publication in early 2022. It is important to highlight intersectionality when we discuss Travellers' experiences in prison - for example, the position of an older Traveller woman with disabilities in prison. This need to incorporate an understanding of multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination has been addressed by the UN Human Rights Council, which emphasises the need to incorporate effective approaches in laws, policies and programmes.

As an overarching point, Travellers are over-represented in both the prison system and among people engaged by the Probation Service, but representation among the staff of both services, and indeed the Judiciary and other parts of the justice system, is extremely low. According to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, these are possible indicators of racial discrimination and wider social issues that must be addressed. Both Ms Costello and Ms Joyce have already articulated this very well.

We have focused on three key issues in our presentation. The first is the importance of data recording and ethnic equality monitoring. This is the first step towards addressing inequalities faced by minority ethnic groups caught up in the criminal justice system. There is a need for comprehensive and robust ethnic monitoring by all relevant agencies. Within the prison system in particular, ethnic equality monitoring is essential to ensure - for example: equitable access to education, training and work in prison; equal access to incentivised regimes; and equal access to early release programmes. Such monitoring is also needed to inform provision of appropriate services, including healthcare and mental healthcare. Ethnic equality monitoring also plays a critical role in protecting against potential differences - for example: in the use of restricted regimes, including solitary confinement; use of force and control and restraint techniques; and use of safety observation cells and close supervision cells.

I echo Ms Costello in that the IPRT welcomes the actions taken by the Irish Prison Service, including the introduction of an ethnic identifier and the collection of anonymised data and the peer-led training that has supported that roll-out. We are concerned, however, that these data should be adequately recorded, analysed and made publicly available. Without such data being made available, any disparities in treatment and potentially discriminatory practices cannot be identified and addressed.

Therefore, our first recommendation is that the Department of Justice should ensure that ethnic equality monitoring is adequately carried out across the criminal justice system using the ethnic categories developed by the Central Statistics Office.

The information, appropriately anonymised, should be made publicly available to support further research and evidence-informed policy and practice.

The second key issue is implementation of the public sector duty. Under section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, there is a positive duty on all public bodies to eliminate discrimination and protect the human rights of staff and persons to whom they provide services. The Irish Prison Service, IPS, consistently demonstrates its commitment to the equality and human rights duty in its reporting. This is manifest primarily through staff training and policy. However reports of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, CPT, and recent public disclosures regarding social media activity, suggest a small number of staff engage in discriminatory behaviour and racist abuse. Mandatory anti-racism training for staff should be reviewed, updated and repeated regularly, and members of the groups affected should be engaged in the development and delivery of this training. This must be met with positive action by the IPS to ensure that its training on human rights and equality issues is implemented in the prison estate on a practical day-to-day basis. Furthermore the current review of the Prison Rules 2007 is an opportunity to insert a positive obligation to eliminate discrimination, and thereby make it unambiguous that the rules must be implemented in a manner compliant with the public sector duty. Our second recommendation is that the IPS should ensure that the revised Prison Rules include an explicit statement of commitment to eliminate discrimination.

Our third and final recommendation relates to an effective complaints system. IPRT's forthcoming research, due for publication in early 2022, finds that the prison complaints system is ineffective in addressing complaints concerning racism. This echoes general findings by both the CPT and the Office of the Inspector of Prisons that the current complaints system is not fit for purpose. The Department of Justice and the IPS should ensure that the new complaints policy is rolled out with urgency so that that all complaints, particularly those relating to racial discrimination, are fairly and adequately addressed. This is critical to fostering a prison culture where everyone feels protected from discrimination and has confidence that he or she will be treated fairly. The IPS should also introduce a system for compiling statistics on all complaints made across the prison estate, and their outcomes, as recommended by the CPT. Our third recommendation is that the IPS and the Department of Justice should work together to ensure that the new internal prisoner complaints mechanism is introduced before the end of 2021 and consider how the complaint system can address and investigate allegations of racism in an effective manner.

I conclude by thanking the committee for its invitation and its attention to these issues and I look forward to the discussion.