John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I too welcome the Minister to the House. He is mentioned so frequently here that he must have a permanent red ear.

I have some background knowledge of the prison system. I was not on a prison visiting committee nor was I a prison inmate but in my former career I spent some time working in prisons. Prison visiting committees are a necessary part of the prison structure and they play an active role. Having said that they do need to modernise their brief and remit. We now have a Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who takes on board that challenge and commitment. He is a reforming Minister and we will see more of those reforms.

The legislation and the remit that prison visiting committees will have in the future need to be more reflective of our society. Some valid points have been made on the opposite side of the House. Mr. Justice Kinlen is undertaking a review at the moment of the whole prison area. In that context he will also review prison visiting committees. We should not be too quick to pre-empt the reform that is under way but should wait until the review comes forth. I am confident the Minister will bring reform before the House for implementation before long.