Results 10,161-10,180 of 18,733 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Deportation Orders. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——and if he would stop grandstanding on this issue——

Deportation Orders. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——he would understand that the law is effectively operated.

Deportation Orders. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: In addition liaison takes place between the Irish Prison Service, the GNIB and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform——

Deportation Orders. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——which considers all of these cases.

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I presume the Deputy is referring to the fourth annual report of the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention and the report of the inspection of Cloverhill Prison, which were published by me in August 2006.

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: They are the most recent reports.

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The inspector's reports coincided with a period of profound change in the Prison Service, during which the decades long problem of dependency on excessive prison overtime was finally confronted and overcome. As the Deputy will be aware, a situation had developed in the Prison Service whereby the capital budget and every other budget within the system were being cannibalised to fund overtime...

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I thank Deputy Howlin for his kind words of congratulation. The remainder of my answer to his question, which I was unable to read on the floor of the House, addressed the issues raised by the Deputy. However, as the answer has been put on the record, I will give the Deputy only a summary of its contents. I agree that the death of Gary Douch was an appalling event and the circumstances in...

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: With regard to mentally ill people, when I was appointed Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform there was a system of using padded cells. These cells were so appalling to even the most casual and inexperienced visitor as to require their immediate replacement. I have got rid of the padded cells and have replaced them with modern state-of-the-art observation cells, where people are...

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy asked what has happened since the death of Gary Douch. Mr. Mellet reported to me on an interim basis within days of his appointment that no prisoner who sought protection should be put in those circumstances. The practice was immediately prohibited within the Prison Service by way of an interim recommendation from Mr. Mellet. With regard to psychiatrically ill prisoners, what is...

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: It has happened in the relatively recent past. That is not acceptable. If somebody is a danger to himself or others, the Central Mental Hospital must be organised on the basis that it can adequately deal with such a person. It must have sufficient rooms to accommodate all the people who are properly committed by prison doctors to that hospital for treatment, where they can be humanely and...

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——on the basis of committals and releases which are difficult to defend. The United Nations Committee Against Torture has visited this country and will examine this problem.

Irish Prison Service. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: My Department is in urgent consultation with the Central Mental Hospital about these matters. The director general of the Prison Service will go to the Central Mental Hospital on Thursday to see what the problems are and how they can be overcome.

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: In 2002, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, established the Office of Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention on a non-statutory basis. In 2005, I examined the possibility of providing a statutory basis for the office by means of a statutory instrument, namely, to provide for the office in the prison rules which are at an advanced stage of...

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Prisons Bill is before the Seanad and if the Deputy consults the proceedings of that House, he can confirm that. The decision was made in July this year to provide in that Bill for a statutory basis for the inspector's job. The amendments will be put down shortly in the Seanad and the Deputy will have an opportunity to debate them in this House and in the justice committee before...

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——or that he is in any sense circumscribed——

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am trying to answer the Deputy's priority question. I will deal with Deputy Howlin later.

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I defy anybody to claim the inspector is not independent. The Deputy made a throw-away remark that the staff of the Garda Ombudsman Commission are not independent. That is wholly untrue. They are not seconded members of the Garda Síochána. The commission is currently recruiting its staff and it is not, in any sense, lacking independence. It is just as independent as Nuala O'Loan is in...

Inspector of Prisons. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: It was not a question of me vetting the report but of me reading it and seeing a number of passages in it which I concluded might be defamatory. I submitted them to counsel to decide whether they were publishable by me without risk of me being sued. I was advised by counsel and the Attorney General that I could not publish the report in the form in which it was. I asked that the passages...

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: On 28 September 2006 there were 3,158 persons in prison custody as compared with a bed capacity of 3,383. This represents an occupancy level of 93%. It is my view, supported by these figures, that there is no overcrowding crisis or immediate issue relating to the capacity of the prison system. There is, however, a need to upgrade existing prison accommodation and to plan for the future and...