Dáil debates

Thursday, 8 March 2007

Prisons Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage

 

11:00 am

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I apologise for not being present in the Chamber earlier as I was detained elsewhere.

In respect of two of these amendments, having read the proposals of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice on this issue, I adopted a number of its suggestions, which were reasonable. Their acceptance would not tax the Tánaiste too much. Amendment No. 25 is intended to ensure the Minister did not appoint someone for a single year only by specifying a term of office. This would ensure someone could get to grips with this onerous job. He or she would have time to read him or herself into the job and to build up some credibility on the issues, which would allow the inspector to be approached by prisoners, prison officers, governors and the Minister to examine certain issues. Moreover, given the number of prisons, I do not believe that someone could fulfil the role fully within a term of less than three years.

Amendment No. 26 states "The Inspector of Prisons shall be provided with the staff and resources commensurate with the functions and duties outlined in this Act". This is simply to ensure the role of Inspector of Prisons has an office associated with it, which can deal with the workload in a proper and expeditious fashion to avoid delays in reporting.

Amendment No. 24 is intended to ensure the Houses of the Oireachtas have a greater say in making appointments and that such appointments are made on a merit-based selection process. This is a standard amendment in the case of ministerial appointments so that rather than the Minister simply selecting someone, such selections should meet with the approval of the Houses and that a mechanism would exist whereby people can see it does not constitute cronyism. While I do not suggest the Minister has been so involved, in the past the public has looked on some appointments on that basis. The amendment is to ensure those selected are the best possible candidates available for the job and that party politics does not enter the equation in this regard.

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