Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The Bill is a welcome departure for the Minister in that he has produced a consolidated Bill instead of taking a Bill that has been hanging around for years, putting it through Second Stage and grafting on chunks on Committee Stage, which has been the normal process followed by the current Minister and his predecessor. It seems to be a departmental modus operandi. I say this in the hope that there will be no further grafts on Committee Stage.

As Deputy Jim O'Keeffe stated, the Bill gives us a rare opportunity to discuss prisons and prison policy. It is seldom that we have that opportunity, although the prison system is a critically important and very expensive part of the entire criminal justice system. It is an area many people do not wish to discuss. When I have raised this topic on national radio, the preponderance of telephone calls have shown an attitude that basically does not care what happens behind prison walls, people should be locked up and what happens after that is no one's business. That is fundamentally wrong and we must have this debate. The half hour I have to contribute to this discussion will not fulfil that need but I hope it will generate a broader discussion on prison policy.

The Bill, as the Minister has indicated, provides for a number of routine things, such as video conferencing of certain non-trial court hearings. That keeps up with technology as outlined in the report of the oversight group chaired by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham which would allow for video conferencing in cases where it is not currently provided for by statute.

It places the office of the Inspector of Prisons on a statutory basis. God knows that is long overdue and it is a pity the personal animosity between the current Minister and——

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