Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I have some sympathy for the Minister of State. I do not know why he does not just photocopy his notes and distribute them because if there is no engagement, we may as well be speaking to the wall outside. When I came to the House earlier, we had a discussion with the intention of facilitating the passage of the Bill. There is no point facilitating the passage of the Bill if we cannot get an answer for a very simple amendment being put by Deputy Howlin relating to public representatives.

I take the point that the amendment may not use the best terminology. At the very least, the amendment from the Minister should have respected the other House, with the wording being "a Member of Oireachtas Éireann".

As Deputy Howlin has stated, many people have been in prison or are likely to be in prison. Some of them wishing to communicate their experiences in prison have been in contact with my office, although they are not all from my constituency. Some were previously resident in my constituency but have moved to Kerry, Cork or wherever. As they knew me in my role as a public representative, they felt the best person to go to was the one they knew.

If this is tied to a constituency, limits are being imposed. As we have so many three-seat constituencies, prisoners could be limited to three people. As Deputy Howlin has noted, these people may not necessarily represent the prisoner's political viewpoint or perspective on prisons and punishment. The prisoner in question may wish to seek out a champion of prisoners, prisoners' welfare or prisoners' families. That is usually the case.

Many in this House have championed such issues and they are the people prisoners will go to. Many years ago, one of the members of Labour, Deputy Costello, was a member of a prisoners' rights organisations. He may have been a founding member — I am not sure. I believe he would still get representations from across the city and across Ireland because of that association. If we accept the Minister's amendment, he could not visit those people in prison if they were not from his constituency.

It is a pity the Minister of State cannot get an official to ring the Minister, Deputy McDowell, wherever he is dropping a prison on some unsuspecting community. The official could ask about the amendment, the type of which he indicated on Committee Stage that he would accept, and ask for advice. Otherwise this will continue into tomorrow. I am not pushed either way as I will be here tomorrow anyway to argue all my amendments.

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