Dáil debates
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Other Questions
Prison Service Strategies
4:30 pm
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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10. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 233 and 234 of 10 October 2017, his plans to rethink his strategy regarding women in respect of the building of a larger prison facility and the promotion of step-down facilities rather than non-custodial alternatives and supported independent living. [44225/17]
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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This question arises on foot of previous parliamentary questions I have submitted regarding our attitude to penal policy in the context of the incarceration of women. I have concerns about the fact that the Minister is investing resources in larger facilities for women prisoners. While everybody agrees that there needs to be a new facility in Limerick, why does it have to be so big? Why are we putting resources into step-down facilities and where is the evidence that this is the best way forward?
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that in the joint Probation Service-Irish Prison Service women's strategy 2014-2016, An Effective Response to Women Who Offend, published in 2014, the Irish Prison Service made a commitment to explore the development of an open centre and open conditions for women assessed as being at low risk of reoffending. This commitment was acknowledged in the report on the strategic review of penal policy, which also recommended a greater focus on step-down facilities, supported accommodation, the use of more community-based open conditions for female offenders and the provision of an open centre for women.
A joint Irish Prison Service-Probation Service working group considered an open centre for women and recommended that, rather than developing an open centre, a more practical and cost-effective way to address the deficit would be to pursue step-down facilities for women. I am delighted to be able to support this very important initiative and the Deputy will be aware that I announced additional funding for the Irish Prison Service in 2018 to advance the project. Significant progress has been achieved already to advance this initiative. Approval was given to the heads of the Irish Prison Service and Probation Service to proceed to scope the possibilities for the development of a step-down unit in Dublin. In July 2016, an expressions of interest document was approved and issued, the first step in establishing a step-down facility for women in the Dublin area. As a positive response was received from relevant service providers, it was then decided to proceed to tender. The Irish Prison Service and Probation Service are currently advancing the tender documentation with the assistance of the Office of Government Procurement. As part of this contract, the service provider will be required to provide accommodation for ten women. The provider will co-ordinate individualised care plans for this vulnerable group with complex needs, linking women to a variety of community-based services and equipping them with skills to move towards independent living. I recently had the very enlightening opportunity to meet some women prisoners and hearing, at first hand, of their experience of being in prison in Ireland.
Building works on a new development for females in Limerick Prison will commence in early 2018. When completed, it will provide 42 single-occupancy rooms and an additional eight independent living areas. This stand-alone facility within the prison, with all the required ancillary services, will enhance the regimes and supports available to women. I am satisfied that in light of the above, and the thorough consideration of the issues involved, the correct course is currently being pursued.
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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It is well understood that imprisonment is supposed to be a last resort for anybody who comes before our courts. This is particularly so in the case of women because the crimes for which they are incarcerated are often very different from those for which males are incarcerated. We know that 90% of women are jailed for short-term sentences for non-violent and minor offences, at a cost of almost €70,000 per year. Over 80% are sentenced for non-payment of fines and there is an average of 140 women in our prisons, the vast majority of whom do not belong there.
The Minister has suggested the step-down facility is an alternative to prison. If it is, I am delighted to hear it and maybe I am barking up the wrong tree because my understanding was that it was an exit route out of prison. If it is instead of imprisonment I welcome it because women exiting prison need support, not with a paternalistic step-down facility but with independent living and supports to deal with drug issues, mental health issues and poverty, which are the reasons most women end up in prison in the first instance.
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the step-down facility is a residential unit in the community, which will be designed to provide for the basic needs of its female residents. It is supervised but not institutional and it is an option as a residence for female prisoners, mainly those in transition from custody back to the community. I agree that a prison should be a place of last resort. To put it in context, there are 133 spaces for female offenders within the prison service. The Dóchas Centre can accommodate 105 women, in good quality accommodation, and 20 of them are for women preparing for their release.
I referred to Limerick Prison. This has accommodation for 28 women but I have to acknowledge that this accommodation is of very poor quality. A new prison build on the Limerick site will allow for 50 new spaces for women, which will greatly assist in eliminating overcrowding in our two female facilities. A snapshot of the female prisoner population as of earlier this week confirms that there are 143 women in custody and a further 15 on temporary release.
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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The problem is that most women who end up in prison are very vulnerable. They are generally victims of abuse and poverty and have drug issues. It is very worrying that the report of the investigative team in Northern Ireland found that, while there have been thousands of drug seizures in Irish prisons, the budget to deal with drug treatment in prisons has been cut by €1 million every year. Best practice states that women should be accommodated in open care centres. The Minister seems to have said that step-down facilities are not an alternative to incarceration but an exit route after incarceration. These women really need support for independent living. This is a paternalistic, patronising attitude to what they need and other countries say women should not be imprisoned at all. When a man goes to prison nothing really happens to his kids and the woman tends to go and visit but when a woman goes to prison it affects the whole family, in terms of accommodation and other issues. It is incredibly destabilising and it should not be used.
I forwarded the Minister's previous reply about the size of Limerick Prison to organisations, such as the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, that are at the forefront on this issue. They were shocked to hear that it is planned to build a bigger prison for women. Rather than building larger prisons for women, we should be reducing prison sizes and investing in resources.
4:40 pm
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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We have exceeded the time available for this question by almost two minutes.
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I do not believe the Deputy is giving this issue the focus it deserves. The proposed facility will replace the very poor services provided to a small number of women - I think the figure is less than 50 - in Limerick. I agree with the Deputy that we should continue to identify appropriate alternatives to custody. I acknowledge that legislation in this regard was passed recently. Neither I nor the Department of Justice and Equality hand down custodial sentences to anybody; it is entirely a matter for the courts to do so. As Minister, I would never interfere with the running or jurisdiction of the courts. It is important for female prisoners to access the structural temporary release arrangements. It is important for us to provide sentencing judges with a range of options, including the imposition of community service, when custodial sentences of 12 months or less are under consideration. I acknowledge the work of the Probation Service in this regard. On any given day, the service works with approximately 1,500 female offenders on a range of probation-type orders to ensure they are adequately assessed and supervised. Many of the women in question are undertaking community service or are under post-release supervision. I agree with Deputy Clare Daly's assertion that as legislators, we should be looking to give the courts a range of options. Ultimately, the courts make decisions on sentences on the basis of the facts of each individual case.
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Under the rules the House, Question Time is due to conclude in just under ten minutes. Given that the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, will be in the Chamber to respond to the first Topical Issue at 5.30 p.m., I suggest that we continue with questions to him until the start of Topical Issues at 5.30 p.m. Is that agreed?
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Yes. That is grand.
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Agreed.
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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It places a bigger burden on me of course.
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Tuigim é sin.
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I will accept the Chair's proposal in order to facilitate the Deputies who are present.
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat.
Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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We are not supposed to be nice fellows.
Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Ba chóir do na daoine atá sa Teach an seans a fháil.