Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My questions are along the same lines as Senator Ruane's, so the answers will be fairly similar. Looking at all the parts of the legislation, the Department of Justice seems to be retaining hold of the legislation. This is a big problem. It is not surprising really in terms of how the Department of Justice does its job and sees its role. It is going to be a fatal flaw in the legislation. This is going to be seen and presented as reform having been carried out and everything being done and dusted for the next 20 or 30 years. In fact there is no real reform because the Minister is retaining ownership of some very significant and important parts of the legislation that would make up a new independent statutory body. There are not many questions in that but perhaps the witnesses could answer in relation to Senator Ruane's questions.

I see the same thing regarding the director general in head 34 being very restricted in what he or she can actually do. Part 4 says that the board of the service is appointed by the Minister for Justice, not an independent body. Again, this is a problem. Head 52 says the Minister for Justice can redact or not. The Department of Justice is retaining ownership of all the important parts of this legislation, which is a real problem. I would be grateful if the witnesses could expand a wee bit more on that in their answers.

The code of conduct for prison staff is not a statutory one at the moment. If it were made statutory, how would the witnesses see that impacting and what would be the difference? I presume the code of conduct in place at the moment is voluntary. What is the difference going to be in that regard in the future? The role of the staff in the future is also significant. I would like to hear back from the witnesses as to what the outcome is from talking to the Department of Justice regarding this matter because that will have an impact on prison officers' terms and conditions in the future.

If we wanted to set the system up on an independent footing, I do not think we would go down this road.