Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Yes. The first issue that Deputy Daly raised was in regard to the statistics, and a number of Deputies continued to raise that. I will summarise the important issues that were noted in the CSO report this year. Compared with the CSO report that was published last year, the amount of non-recording of crime onto PULSE fell very slightly. The previous issue of the degree of misclassification of criminal incidents to non-crime categories fell significantly. The number of crimes incorrectly marked as detected fell significantly. I want to put on the record that some of the key findings of the CSO report can be summarised as follows: an estimated 17% of crime reported, which does not appear to be captured on PULSE, reduced from 20% in the first CSO report on quality. These are quality reports that monitor the changes in an ongoing way. An estimated 2% of crime incidents were incorrectly classified, a reduction from 5%. It is now 2% and we want to work on that 2%. Some 3% of incidents were classified as attention and complaints - a non-crime category - which should have been classified as a crime. That is reduced from 7%. That is an improvement from 7% of those incidents being wrongly categorised down to 3%. Some 1% were classified as property lost, a reduction from 4%. Some 2% were classified as domestic disputes, a reduction from 7%. That is also very significant. One can see in each of those areas, the monitoring, discussion and reform in statistics by the CSO's objective monitoring, that improvements are being made. The CSO's review of detections suggested that 10% of the detections sampled should not have been recorded as detections. That was reduced from 16%. We are getting more accuracy in the recording of crime. This is an international issue and one that we must continue to work on.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien referred to all crimes being investigated. Of course, I cannot say that every crime that is reported has been investigated, but I repeat what the Commissioner said that the fact it had not been recorded properly did not mean the crime had not been investigated. This issue with regard to crime statistics is clearly ongoing, and I have no doubt that the committee will be discussing it next year when we have a new CSO report. As we put more investment into IT and as PULSE records ongoing investigations, which it is now doing, as opposed to just the recording of crime, a difference will be made.

Members raised the issue of prisons. I was in Portlaoise Prison last week looking at the conditions in the old building and getting an update on the work planned there and the improvements that can be made in the meantime. There is a big refurbishment programme which I believe is to start next year and perhaps the old building will be gone completely in a few years as there is a plan to replace it. The capital has been earmarked for that project. As Deputy O'Brien will know from the Cork situation,

there have been huge improvements made in prison buildings in the State - for example, in slopping out. There is a very small amount of work still to be done in that regard. Over the lifetime of the next Irish Prison Service strategy, there are plans for a new cell block and a new female prison unit in Limerick and plans for the construction of a new maximum security unit in Portlaoise Prison to replace the existing one. Members will be aware that the E blocks in Portlaoise Prison are very outdated and they will be progressed. Taken in tandem, these two developments will result in the final elimination of the practice of slopping out across the entirety of the Irish prison estate. Figures for July 2016 in the census show that only 55 persons were slopping out in the prison estate, a reduction from 1,003 in 2010. That practice is about to be finished completely. There have been huge improvements in regard to the prison build and Cork Prison is an example of best practice when it comes to conditions. I was at the opening of that prison and saw the standard of that new building, of which Deputy O'Brien is clearly aware, and the facilities for prisoners, for the staff and for families who come to visit. The staff has had to endure extremely difficult conditions in our prisons.

With regard to the other points raised by members about the quality of drug treatment and how prisoners are actually dealt with, this is an ongoing issue. I met the international committee on the issues of health care, mental health and drug treatment in our prisons. Clearly, there is scope and a need for improvement in that area. The fact that we now have an independent inspector for prisons and that we get individual reports from him on incidents in the prisons is very important We are examining this and have had a consultation on a broader inspectorate that could be established. I will also meet with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, in the near future to discuss more engagement between the Departments of Justice and Equality and Health on improving the medical care, the psychiatric care and mental health facilities in our prisons. I believe this issue needs further investment. We need to address it. Drug treatment services are now in place in all closed prisons. The policy of the Irish Prison Service, where a person who is committed to prison gives a history of drug use and tests positively, is to offer them detoxification if clinically indicated. There is a full assessment. There is quite a significant number of prisoners now and information from the Irish Prison Service would suggest that there is currently a significant number of prisoners currently self-detoxifying from methadone, resulting in a marked reduction in the average dose of methadone. The drug treatment programme has nine places and it is provided in the medical unit of Mountjoy Prison. There are other facilities available there also, such as slow detox and destabilisation relapse programmes.

The IPS is committed to reviewing and developing further treatment and rehabilitation services in the prison. Deputies Jonathan O'Brien and Clare Daly raised the treatment of prisoners and working with them longer term. One of the key initiatives currently involves a much closer relationship between the Probation Service, gardaí and the Prison Service. I launched a joint action programme for those three bodies last week in Portlaoise. The programme focuses on persistent offenders. The programme has already been implemented in Dublin with 90 offenders and has now been extended to Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick. It is the kind of programme we need to see if we are to work effectively with prisoners. It is not just about working with people during the period that they are in prison. It is about having the proper links with the Probation Service and An Garda Síochána when they leave prison and for persistent offenders when they are in the community. That is very much the direction those three bodies are moving in to engage in inter-agency work of a type which we have not, surprisingly, had before. I was speaking to young gardaí from Limerick who were at the launch. They welcomed strongly the close collaboration with the Probation Service around particular individuals to give them better support and increase the chances of them avoiding becoming recidivist and of rehabilitating them. That is very much the focus in terms of prisoners.

Deputy Daly talked about a particular case. I cannot comment on individual cases here but I will certainly take up the points she raised about the young man she met. It is, however, an operational matter to decide what number of prison officers are assigned to look after that young man during his stay in prison. It will not have been a decision that was taken lightly. I do not know the individual details, but I do not think for a moment that prison officers will lightly have taken a decision to have that level of supervision if there was no need for it. However, the Deputy can provide me with the details. I cannot act as judge and jury on it, no more than I can on other issues. I have to ensure that fair procedures are in place.

There is a Secretary General in place in the Department but it is an acting position. Clearly, all of the functions of Secretary General are being carried out by the person in the position. The post was advertised across the Civil Service over the summer. All serving civil servants are eligible to compete. I expect to make an announcement on that shortly. I think I have covered some of the issues Deputy Jonathan O'Brien raised.