Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important issue. I will certainly seek an update on Garda resources for County Tipperary because I am conscious that Tipperary is the home of Garda recruitment. The Deputy and I have visited the Garda College in Templemore and the Deputy knows it very well. We will visit it again shortly as we welcome more Garda recruits into it in May.

Oversight and evaluation are welcome and important elements in developing and improving our penal system. The work of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons forms an essential aspect of this oversight infrastructure. As has been proven over many years, this Government is committed to ensuring that the Office of the Inspector of Prisons has the resources necessary to perform its important role. I can assure the Deputy that both my Department and I are committed to continuing to engage with the Inspector of Prisons to ensure it has the resources necessary to undertake its work both now and into the future.

In this regard, as the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government includes a commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, OPCAT. This protocol provides for the establishment of bodies known as national preventive mechanisms, which inspect places of detention with a view to the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. My Department is leading on the development of the legislation needed, which is called the inspection of places of detention Bill, to facilitate the introduction of a multiple-institution national preventive mechanism model in this State that will allow for the ratification of OPCAT. The approach proposed in the scheme to provide for this is to expand the existing statutory role of the Inspector of Prisons to become a chief inspector of places of detention, which will be designated as the national preventive mechanism not just for prisons but for the whole justice sector. The Office of the Inspector of Prisons has welcomed this transformation. As the Deputy may also be aware, pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Bill took place on 18 October 2022 and my Department has very recently received the report of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice. This report is being considered so that its findings and recommendations can be used to inform how best to move forward and inform the drafting of the Bill.

It is acknowledged that additional financial and human resources will be required to ensure the Office of the Inspector of Prisons, as the new inspectorate of places of detention, can perform its statutory functions effectively and with appropriate functional independence in line with Ireland’s international obligations. However, it is not yet possible to fully quantify exactly what will be needed to implement the measures contained in the Bill at this stage as it is still being drafted. I hear the points the Deputy is making. Decisions in this regard will be made in due course. I have committed to publish the Bill as soon as possible so that it may proceed to enactment without undue delay and allow for ratification of OPCAT. In this context, my Department will continue to engage with the Inspector of Prisons about what is needed both now and into the future and to ensure that the needs identified will be objectively assessed by the OPW so that the best possible solution to meet the requirements can be identified.

In short, there is new legislation to come and this legislation will see an expanded role as Ireland seeks to fulfil its obligations under OPCAT. As part of that, we will be engaging with the Inspector of Prisons and the OPW on what is required in terms of resourcing, offices and the like and we will continue to liaise with Deputy Cahill in that regard.

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