Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I shall read the text of our amendment which I moved last month.

1. In the first paragraph after "in the County of Fingal" to insert the following:

"—that, to ensure the safety of prisoners and staff of the Irish Prison Service, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of certain prison accommodation in Ireland;

that, recognising the existence of a new women's prison, Dóchas, the need for women to be held in a completely separate facility from men and held within easy access of visiting families and children to ensure community and generational continuity and support, women shall not be held in the facility at Thornton Hall;

that the facility at Thornton Hall will never be used to house persons under 18 years of age;

that the facility at Thornton Hall will never be used to house persons seeking asylum or protection from persecution;

that no part of the facility at Thornton Hall shall constitute an approved centre for involuntary admission of persons suffering from a disorder under the Mental Health Act 2001;

that the facility at Thornton Hall have visiting hours at weekends and in the evening of specified weekdays so as to allow maximum opportunity for visitation by families to persons detained at the facility at Thornton Hall;

that the facility at Thornton Hall shall be serviced by a frequent and low-cost public transport service at all visiting times which must service the transport hub of Busáras and Connolly Station;

that prison policy in Ireland be informed by a rehabilitative agenda which incorporates education, training, psychological assistance and drug detoxification as its core principles;

that every prisoner at the facility at Thornton Hall shall have an integrated sentence management programme designed for him, with particular emphasis placed on reintegration into the community at the end of their sentence to include provision of short term accommodation;

that every prisoner at the facility at Thornton Hall have access to comprehensive education and vocational training, with particular emphasis on literacy development for any prisoner; and

that every prisoner at the facility at Thornton Hall who suffers from a drug addiction have access to a comprehensive drug detoxification programme."

We are back about two hours from the meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. The situation regarding this debate is less than satisfactory because issues arose on Committee Stage and must be dealt with now although the House will break soon for Private Members' Business. It is a pity that this important issue is being rushed in such a fashion.

I thank the Minister for his reference to the amendment and to the points he made in favour of some of it. I regret he did not see fit to go further.

With regard to the need to improve the quality of prison accommodation, that point is accepted. We obviously support the relocation of Mountjoy and the need to invest on the capital side in our prisons.

Regarding persons seeking asylum or protection from persecution, I note what the Minister said and I shall return to the matter.

The issue of public transport arose on Committee Stage and I urge the Minister to be generous in his reply because it is important. This was raised not only by me but by Deputy Burton and others in whose constituencies the proposed facility will be constructed.

I welcome what the Minister said in regard to prisoners' reintegration into the community at the end of sentence. Perhaps before the end of the debate he might clarify that every prisoner will be part of that system.

I also welcome what the Minister said with regard to the programme for literacy. In the matter of drug addiction, it is regrettable that therapy is not provided in most of our prisons. This gives rise to serious issues.

The current prison system is failing society due to the absence of comprehensive programmes of rehabilitation and the corresponding high levels of recidivism. These rates are quite shocking. Research suggests that half the prisoners re-offend within four years of release while 27% are back in prison within 12 months of release. The taxpayer is footing a bill of between €95,000 and €100,000 per prisoner per year, maintaining what is in effect a revolving door system. I accept, given the Dáil figures, that there will be a new facility, and given the intent of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the fact that almost €40 million has already been expended that we can expect a prison at Thornton Hall in some form will go ahead. That is the reality. It must be underpinned, however, by appropriate facilities within the prison.

Our current prisons are in breach of international human rights standards, with particular reference to overcrowding and violence. On occasion there are 990 prisoners in Mountjoy in a structure with maximum capacity for 930. Dóchas currently houses 90 inmates on some nights, as the Minister remarked, and on some days up to 100 women, despite its maximum capacity being for 85. If Mountjoy and St. Patrick's are coming to the end of their tenure and moving out why not extend Dóchas? Why can we not expand and develop that site instead of moving people to Thornton Hall?

Ireland's shameful record on human rights has been emphasised repeatedly by the Prison Chaplains' Association, the Council of Europe's Anti-torture Committee and by the prison inspectorate itself. The Council of Europe's report into Irish prisons, published last October, described a scenario where inter-prisoner violence was rife, fuelled by the widespread availability of illegal drugs and the existence in our prisons of a gang culture. Three prisons were singled out as being particularly dangerous in this context: Limerick, Mountjoy and St. Patrick's Institution. The fact the latter is a facility for young people makes the findings of the Council of Europe report all the more stark and shocking.

Figures published towards the end of last year indicate that more than 770 prisoners were under protective custody for their own safety in prisons nationwide, out of a total prison population of about 3,000 people. In the meantime, last year an average of one prisoner per month died while in custody as a result of a drug overdose, murder or natural causes. This is totally unacceptable.

In their most recent report the prison chaplains state the misuse of drugs continues to be a major problem in most of our prisons. Many people have been introduced to drugs initially while in prison. Surely the Minister will agree this is a shocking state of affairs. I recall comments in this regard by one of the Minister's predecessors, Mr. Michael McDowell, who indicated that drugs in prisons were becoming a thing of the past during his reign, which was not too long ago. It is a shocking indictment of the prison system that those who enter it without a drugs problem can actually acquire one by the time of their release. Prison chaplains point to the fact that drug offences are actually the reason many are incarcerated in the first instance. In this context, the limited and ad hoc availability of drug treatment programmes within prisons is a national disgrace. Only nine prisoners at a time can avail of a special six-week addiction treatment programme in Mountjoy Prison. Prisoners seeking drug-free landings to help combat their addiction are denied the facility due to chronic overcrowding. I hope this will be addressed in whatever new facility is constructed.

The last report published by the late Mr. Justice Kinlen before his death stated the prison system was dysfunctional and lacking in educational, psychiatric and rehabilitation services. It is unacceptable to proceed to build Thornton Hall as a super prison with 2,200 places in addition to the 3,300 or 3,400 currently available. We have the highest prison population in the history of the State. Are we to turn to the new facility into a super sized crime academy in which prisoners are locked away without any effort being made to lure them away from a life of crime? The prison at Thornton Hall must be part of a new approach to prisoners, characterised by a focus on rehabilitating every one of them, including serious criminals. The new prison must not become a centre where current dysfunctional trends are permitted to magnify.

Fine Gael supports the construction of a modern prison complex subject to the following important conditions, some of which I accept the Minister has addressed. There should be a comprehensive programme of rehabilitation with the aim of offering a rehabilitation service to every prisoner so as to cut recidivism rates substantially. There should be clear targets that can be revisited regularly. Education and training should be available to all prisoners in the State, irrespective of whether they are in the prison at Thornton Hall or Portlaoise, with particular emphasis on literacy programmes. The latest research suggests 65% of prisoners nationally are illiterate, while 50% of young offenders in St. Patrick's Institution are illiterate. We need an integrated sentence management programme for every prisoner. The Minister has indicated this will happen and I welcome it. The existing drug detoxification programmes should be readily available to all and the programme should benefit from ring-fenced funding.

We are facing substantial financial cutbacks, as the good days are over. The Celtic tiger is dead, as the Minister admitted during the interregnum between the change of holders of high office. We want to ensure there will be no cutbacks in prison education services.

See this speech in context