Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I welcome the inspector's report which I published on 30 May last. It is a particularly valuable and comprehensive report. In it, the inspector stated that the Irish Prison Service and local management should be aware by now of what he regards as best practice and that he expects by 1 July that all prisons will comply with this. However, he also appreciated that prisons will not be able to comply in certain areas in the short term. In terms of progress, I have been informed by the Irish Prison Service that a number of the inspector's recommendations have been implemented or are being implemented. Improvements are being made even though this is subject to the availability of resources.

Areas mentioned by the inspector include the use of special cells, prisoners' complaints and the procedure to be followed following deaths of persons in custody. New procedures have been adopted and will be supported by changes to the prison rules which have been drafted and are being finalised in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. I hope those rules will be finalised very shortly.

The inspector also referred to minimum standards for prison accommodation and the regimes and services that should be provided. The Government is committed to the elimination of slopping out in prisons. The upgrade of more than 100 cells at Mountjoy Prison, including the installation of in-cell sanitation, will be completed by the end of October. The Irish Prison Service will then consider the feasibility of installing in-cell sanitation in the remaining cells of Mountjoy and to other facilities elsewhere. The completion of the Midlands Prison extension and the provision of 70 extra dormitory style spaces in the Dóchas Centre will mean that 80% of the prisons estate will have in-cell sanitation by mid-2012.

Unfortunately, the numbers in prison at the moment do not allow all of the inspector's standards to be met in the short term. The problem of prison overcrowding remains a challenging issue. As of 15 September 2011, there were 4,269 prisoners in custody. In 2000, that figure stood at 2,919 and 400 additional prisoner places will come on stream by mid-2012.

Having considered the report of the Thornton Hall review group, the Government has decided in principle to proceed with the construction of new prison facilities at Thornton Hall and at Kilworth, County Cork, but on a smaller scale and design from that previously envisaged. The timeframe for these projects will be discussed soon in the context of discussions on capital spending priorities for 2012.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The Deputy can be assured that I am pursuing alternatives to custody. The recently enacted Criminal Justice (Community Service)(Amendment) Act 2011 requires the sentencing judge to consider the imposition of community service where a custodial sentence of 12 months or less is being considered. Work has also commenced on the development of a pilot scheme under which offenders may be offered earned earlier release in return for community service. In addition, I intend to give new guidelines to the Parole Board of Ireland for the application of a similar scheme to long-term prisoners and will make a further announcement on this in due course.

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