Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

The point I made was that nobody was saying he or she was perfect. This would be a good reform. Everybody had the notion that the Minister would be a breath of fresh air, that he would be reforming and different from old-style politics. Why will he not take this on when he has the opportunity do so? I would have thought that this would be an issue close to his heart. This is an opportunity for the Minister to take the initiative. Although the suggestion has been made by Fine Gael, I do not see the reason the Minister cannot bring forward these new reforms.

I agree with the suggestion in the motion that it would be a good idea for the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights to be involved with the Minister in making these decisions. We should have an overall review of the system, in particular the value of prison visiting committees, to see how we can improve it.