Dr. Joe Garrihy:

It is a good question. It is a tricky question because, as I mentioned earlier, prison visiting committees remain one of the only ways in which people in custody can bring their concerns to an independent actor. However, we cannot ignore the prevailing perception of prison visiting committees among people in custody and among people like myself who research prisons. There is a sense that prison visiting committees are too close to governors and to the Irish Prison Service and that independence, which is much vaunted, may not be so apparent in many of the reports or in terms of whether something has been overturned.

To address the Irish Penal Reform Trust's point on the writing and issuing of reports, there is a serious imbalance in the quality of reports from prison visiting committees in different prisons. It can be hard to glean much information from a four-page annual report. There are question marks about the ideal role, as was said, but whether that comes under the remit of the terms of OPCAT, it cannot be an NPM because it does not fit the criteria. Placing it under the new inspectorate may seem to remedy that but as people have mentioned, it is a serious undertaking and will require a root-and-branch reform in terms of appointments, expertise and training. As others mentioned, often people do not know the process of being appointed and they certainly do not know the terms of reference for what exactly their role is. These are issues that are not insurmountable but they are not small issues and I do not think that placing them under the new inspectorate is the quick fix to that.