Seanad debates
Wednesday, 5 March 2003
Prison Visiting Committees: Motion.
Prison visiting committees were established under old legislation. One of their purposes is to hear the complaints of prisoners. Their annual reports must also offer policy suggestions to management, in this case the Government. The reports are not automatically published and in some instances it is difficult to access them. For many years I pressed for the early release of the reports of the inspector of mental hospitals and eventually they were published reasonably quickly. Visiting committee reports should likewise be published and made accessible as soon as possible.
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