Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

On the point of access to the site, which was raised by Deputy Burton, the existing road has been deemed adequate following a traffic survey by professional consultants. However, following an approach by local residents, the Irish Prison Service is examining the purchase of a small portion of land to provide an alternative route. Nothing has been finalised at this point.

Deputy Cuffe raised the issue of an ombudsman for prisons. It is not considered that an ombudsman is necessary. A range of options is available to prisoners if they wish to make complaints. A prisoner may complain of ill treatment to the governor, to a member of a visiting committee, to the Director General of the Prison Service or to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is also open to a prisoner to report a matter to the Garda, pursue a civil action for damages in the courts or make a complaint to any third party. In these circumstances, it is not clear what value the addition of an extra layer of bureaucracy in the shape of a prison ombudsman would have.

Deputy Cuffe suggested that the Inspector of Prisons should be in a position to publish reports independently. The purpose of the post of inspector is to provide an independent monitoring function. However, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has overall responsibility for the proper running of the prison service and reports should be submitted to him or her in the first instance. In any event, it is the norm in such cases to submit reports to the Minister and I would point to precedent in this regard in the Children Act 2001 in respect of the Inspector of Children Detention Schools submitting a report to the Minister for Education and Science. Similar provisions are contained in the Consumer Credit Act 1995 and the Railway Safety Act 2005.

Deputies Jim O'Keeffe, Howlin, Burton and Andrews referred to the Fines Bill, which the Tánaiste recently presented to Dáil Éireann and referred to the fact that attachment of earnings is not addressed. While there will be an opportunity to debate the merits of this Bill at another time, I will say that it is the first in a two-part strategy to update and rationalise——

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