Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt faoin tslí a bhfuil an córas príosúnachta á reachtáil sa tír seo. Tá roinnt rudaí sa Bhille seo a gcuirimid fáilte éigin rompu, ach den chuid is mó, ní hé seo an treo ar chóir dúinn a bheith ag dul sa tír seo faoi láthair. Is é a mhalairt de threo ar chóir dúinn a bheith ag dul.

The prison system is an absolute failure. If it was successful, the rate of recidivism would be lower. There would not be the over-incarceration to which every report and comparison to other jurisdictions has pointed. The system would focus on rehabilitation, training and preparation for the reintegration of those who must serve a prison sentence. Many who might end up re-offending are not open to rehabilitation or training but there are others for whom this is the only opportunity to receive training from the State which has a duty to invest properly in ensuring that people who have been disadvantaged and have ended up on the wrong side of the law do not end up there again. The prison system, however, has failed miserably. Instead of increasing the number of prison places, we should be holding them at the current level. If we were successfully addressing recidivism and over-incarceration, we would be happy to see empty cells. That is not the case and we should examine why.

I have problems with major parts of this Bill, especially in respect of the privatisation of the prison escort services. If the Government introduces a profit element to the Prison Service, it will end up spending more money as has happened in other jurisdictions. This is not a cost-effective measure and it is dangerous. Independent contractors exist to make profits and will drop standards to do so. That is the experience in other jurisdictions where prison escort services have been privatised. The Minister seems to be hell bent on this and is not heeding the evidence.

In Canada, a five-year pilot study commenced in 2001 to determine whether there was any benefit in privatising the operation of prisons. Two identical prisons, one run by the private sector and the other by the public sector, were examined. The study concluded that the public sector prison performed better in key areas, such as health care because the state has a duty of care to those held in prisons. The public sector prison also performed better in reducing re-offending because its purpose was to ensure that people were rehabilitated and played a proper role in society. Crucially, it did better too in security. The Canadian authorities made an evidence-based decision to take the private prison back into public hands.

I appeal to the Minister not to go down the route of privatising any of the services associated with prison, such as prison escort services. He has stated that "it is not intended" to outsource prison escort services in the foreseeable future. He used exactly the same wording when I discussed the Garda reserve with him at a committee in 2005. A year later we have a Garda reserve. Whatever he includes he intends to use.

Other issues are inadequately addressed, such as prison discipline and the inspector of prisons. There is a high level of suicide and attempted suicide in prisons. Deputy Howlin mentioned the gruesome killing of Gary Douch in a holding cell in Mountjoy last year. The establishment of an independent ombudsman for prisoners is long overdue. We should ensure that this House does not pass this legislation unless that is in place.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has proposed several amendments which would tighten up this area. I appeal to the Minister to consider them on Committee Stage and to ensure that its points and others are taken on board. I agree with much in these amendments. Prison officers are in a different category from prisoners. They have more power over prisoners than perhaps should be the case. Prisoners are reluctant to take cases or make complaints against individual prison officers because the officer may be dealing with the prisoner the next day which can lead to victimisation. We need to ensure that if prisoners make complaints, they are protected. I will argue some of these points on Committee Stage and I hope the Minister is open to taking reasonable amendments on board.

Expenditure on Thornton Hall has not been fully thought out. The Minister is wasting money in north county Dublin. My information is that the other landholders in the area from whom the State will have to buy land are demanding the inflated land figures the State paid, €200,000 per acre. New roads and other services will have to go into the prison and the State will have to purchase land to facilitate the Minister's foolish big dream for Thornton Hall. The questions about the purchase of that site have not been answered. The deal stinks to high heaven. In future, I and others who have raised questions about the deal and the land sale will be proved correct. If new prisons are to be built, we must ensure we obtain the best possible value for money. The Minister is viewing lands in Cork but he should not go down the same road he took in respect of Thornton Hall. There is a great deal of land in State ownership that would be suitable for such purposes. I cannot understand why the Minister has not given proper consideration to upgrading Spike Island and building a new facility there.

There are other matters about which I am concerned, particularly areas in respect of which the Minister has not learned from international research and best practice in other jurisdictions. The first of these relates to mandatory drug testing. When such testing was introduced in other jurisdictions, particularly Scotland, it was discovered that a confrontational relationship developed between staff and prisoners. The latter were actually discouraged from taking part in drug treatment programmes. Mandatory testing has encouraged those who smoked heroin in the past to inject it instead because they can thereby avoid the detection of their drug use via urine screening. This means that the risk of hepatitis C and HIV being transmitted throughout the prison population increases.

There is a great deal more I could say but, unfortunately, I do not have the time to do so. However, I will raise on Committee Stage the points of interest to me. I object to the Bill. It is a pity it is not more enlightened and that it does not engage in proper consideration of how the justice system should operate.

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