Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights and, therefore, I have an interest in the legislation. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley. A number of weeks ago, I visited the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, following an initiative by Newstalk106. Along with a number of others, I had debated the issues raised in the report of the Mental Health Commission the previous week on the radio station with the director of the Central Mental Hospital. I suggested that a number of us should visit the hospital and examine its facilities. I had visited the hospital in a previous life as a member of the Eastern Health Board and as founding chairman of the south western area health board. The issue of whether the facilities at this institution represent a hospital or a prison environment has always been debated. The siting of the proposed new mental hospital is also a political issue. However, I found the visit a profound experience. The Minister of State has an interest in this area but those of us who also have an interest would like him to be aware of the issues and concerns at the facility.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for matters relating to prisons and prisoners. The Bill addresses a number of issues, including the possibility of certain prisoner escort services being contracted out by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; revised prisoner disciplinary procedures, including the establishment of appeal tribunals; planning provisions for the construction of new prisons and extensions to existing prisons; the establishment of the office of the inspector of prisons; the participation of prisoners in certain applications to court by means of a live television link from prison; and charging prisoners for certain optional services.

Prisoner escort services are an essential part of daily prison life and they put a great deal of pressure on prison guards and others who are prevented from carrying out other duties during their working day. Many people, therefore, will welcome the Minister's proposal to use contractors to provide prisoner escort services. The new proposal will apply to custody officers so that full-time prison staff will be afforded more time to carry out other important duties. However, I refer to the importance of ensuring the safety of prisoners and staff who have the responsibility of looking after them. There is a need to ensure the right people of good character and good social skills are appointed to these roles in the Prison Service. The Minister has made a similar point regarding the Garda Reserve and I have raised this with him on a number of occasions. It is important that we support him.

Colleagues raised the issue of the acceptability of using prison to address crime issues. I attended a positive meeting in Brookfield parish in Tallaght last night where a strong campaign has been mounted to lobby the Minister to fund a Garda diversion project. Gardaí, parents and youth workers from the Tallaght Youth Service pointed out that efforts must always be made to find alternative ways to deal with people responsible for crime other than locking them up. There will always be a case for imprisoning certain offenders and this is the subject of political debate but alternatives should be provided. I have always strongly supported Garda youth diversion projects, particularly the KEY project in Tallaght and the STAY project in St. Aengus's parish in Tymon North. A strong campaign has been launched regarding the Brookfield project. I hope the Minister of State will support my efforts to lobby the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in that regard. The Minister has always been open to suggestions regarding the youth diversion programme. Prison must be the ultimate sanction. I have often involved myself in cases of people sentenced to prison because they defaulted on their debts. While I do not condone law breaking, in a civilised society there should be sanctions for people who break the law other than locking them up. We should not stand over putting the wrong people in prison.

I refer to the restorative justice programme, of which I am strong advocate. Two programmes were implemented in Tallaght and Nenagh. I was the founding chairman of the Tallaght mediation bureau and I was involved at the commencement of the Tallaght restorative justice programme, which worked.

Restorative justice has been the subject of a report that was launched recently by the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, of which I am a member. Under the chairmanship of Deputy Ardagh and with great work by Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, the Fine Gael spokesperson on justice, we prepared a detailed report which is on the Minister's desk.

Restorative justice was established in 1999 and is funded by the probation and welfare service and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Since then, it has developed a strong working relationship with the probation and welfare service, victim advocates, the Garda and the courts. Restorative justice has been to the forefront in promoting and practising the principles and philosophy of restorative justice in Ireland. Restorative justice provides a number of programmes to the courts, notably offender reparation and victim-offender mediation. It is a founding member of the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice and a member of the criminal justice alliance, which has consultative status at the United Nations and its working group on restorative justice.

Restorative justice recognises that crime hurts victims, the offender and the wider community, and that all parties who are affected should be part of the response. It acknowledges that the victim's perspective is central to deciding how to repair the harm and that accountability means the offender accepting responsibility for his or her behaviour and acting to repair the harm which has been done.

Restorative justice is not an alternative but it is about changing how we view crime and its effects. I do not view restorative justice as a soft option. We must have a clear understanding that one of the fundamental objectives of restorative justice is to provide a voice for victims of crime. It is about victims being heard and telling their story. It provides the opportunity for victims to ask questions of the offender, seek reassurances, vent some of their anger and frustration and seek apology and reparation.

Another fundamental objective of restorative justice is offender accountability which relates to offenders being personally accountable, taking personal responsibility, raising their awareness and learning about the effect of their behaviour on victims, victims' families, their communities, themselves and their own families. Restorative justice models and programmes have a certain flexibility. They can be adapted and utilised pre-court, pre-sentence and post-sentence. In this regard we should fully explore the positive contribution restorative justice could provide at all stages of the criminal justice system.

The working group on restorative justice, which is to be established by the Tánaiste in the near future, has an opportunity to ensure we maximise the potential benefits this approach could bring to our criminal justice system and, most importantly, the people in our communities who are directly affected by crime. I believe my colleagues in Tallaght are in a position to make a significant contribution to the work of this committee. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to convey my views to the Tánaiste.

The 2005 annual report of the Prison Service provides a number of interesting facts. The annual cost of keeping a prisoner in custody is €90,900, almost a 10% increase over the previous year's figure of €83,800. A total of 85% of all committals in 2005 were for non-violent offences. Of the total number of women committed to prison in 2005, some 90% were incarcerated for non-violent offences. A total of 78% of all committals under sentence in 2005 were for 12 months or less. A total of 89% of women committed to prison in 2005 were for sentences of 12 months or less. A total of 39% of all committals under sentence in 2005 were for three months or less. A total of 55% of women committed to prison in 2005 were for sentences of three months or less.

Over the next 100 days prior to the general election many views will be expressed about crime and issues relating to justice. From listening to colleagues contribute to this debate, the general consensus that is emerging is that courts should be tough on real criminals who should be dealt with severely and while prison is important as a deterrent, it is not always the answer. I make no apology for stating that it is not right for the Garda to take people to prison for television licence offences or similar matters. I accept crime must be dealt with, but a different way must be found to address certain offences. It is time we seriously examined this issue.

Other colleagues may have more experience of prison visits but I have visited prisons on occasion for humanitarian reasons for family members of constituents. Regardless of how comfortable or modern some of our prison facilities are, I am always struck by the feeling that I do not want to be there. I visited a prison before Christmas and I got a sense from prisoners that they very much wish to be in a drugs-free environment. People say there is a serious drug problem in all prisons. This is not just an Irish phenomenon. Many prisoners, some of whom are serving long sentences, do not wish to get involved in drugs and they have tried hard in this regard with the support of staff and families. I get a clear sense that such people wish to remain in a drugs-free environment. It is important such people get the support they need. There will always be difficulties in that regard as people develop more innovative ways of beating the system.

A colleague referred today to the siting of new prisons. I was involved recently in a campaign that developed on foot of a proposal to site a new prison on the edge of my constituency. Such a development gives rise to many issues. Politicians are told not to be parochial and to look at the national picture.

See this speech in context