Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Irish Prison Service fully appreciates how important religious services and contact with family and friends are to people in custody. The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, wishes to assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to the return of both as soon as it considered safe to do so. The Deputy is correct to say there have been more than 15 months of difficulty. It is very difficult to be locked up, curtailed and constrained. As he noted, we need to balance the psychological rights with other rights. It is a difficult time for all.

As the Deputy may be aware, at the start of the pandemic, the Prison Service introduced a video visit system, which has allowed families to continue to support those in custody. Additional phone calls were also facilitated. I understand from the Minister of State that feedback on the use of this system has been generally positive. Nevertheless, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the service is developing a new framework for the unwinding of prison restrictions, informed by the recent Government plan for reopening society, Resilience and Recovery: The Path Ahead. The new framework, which will be published later this month by the Prison Service, will set out a phased unwinding of the restrictions and a plan for the resumption of visits and religious services will be included. Although the unwinding of prison restrictions and the resumption of religious services and visits are priorities for the service, they are subject to a number of critical factors, including the need to maintain infection control measures, the roll-out of the prison vaccination programme for both prisoners and staff, which the Deputy mentioned, and the roll-out of the community vaccination programme.

The Deputy will appreciate that when the service is reviewing the unwinding of restrictions, it must take into account the risks of Covid transmission in congregated settings and the fact that a large cohort of those in custody and staff working in prisons have not been vaccinated. It is good to see, as was mentioned, that vaccinations are being ramped up. I hope vaccinations will begin to happen much more quickly. Revised guidelines and controls for the safe celebration of religious services have been developed and approved, and chaplains have continued to work in all prison establishments during lockdowns, providing important spiritual and pastoral support services. A date for the resumption of religious services and in-person visits will be agreed as part of the wider plan for unwinding Covid-19 restrictions in prisons later this month. When this has been finalised, it will be communicated widely.

I hope this clarifies the current circumstances for the Deputy. As he noted, prisons are facing many issues that need to be dealt with.

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