Ms Nuala Ryan:

The Deputy asked a lot of questions. On whether the members should be paid, we are not volunteers. The prison visiting committees are appointed by the Minister for Justice. We are the eyes, ears and nose of the Minister in the prisons. We are not volunteers. When we meet prisoners and see them regularly, they speak to us and look for appointments to come and see us. We walk the floors and are in and out of the prisons all the time. We hear their complaints and concerns. Many of the concerns could be dealt with, shall we say, in that we go to the governor with them, consult and the governor would take them on board. I do not remember any cases where a decision was actually overturned. I do not remember anything like that. We would go and speak to the governor and the appropriate authorities. A lot of the matters can be resolved practically. Issues with post, clothes, missing stuff, appointments and prisoners wanting to get back to making phone calls can be easily resolved and dealt with. That is what the visiting committees do and we do it very well. What makes us unique is that we go in and speak to the prisoners themselves.