Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

It is obvious that times are changing. While I welcome a number of the points made by the Minister, I would like to raise some other issues. The Minister has said that he favours retaining the inspector and the visiting committees, but I am concerned that there may be some conflict between them if they are doing the same job. I asked the Minister if he does not trust the visiting committees to do the work they are supposed to do, but he did not answer. Why is an inspector needed if he trusts the committees? I welcome the fact that the inspector has pointed out to the Minister that there is a problem with racism in the prisons. We have heard that prisons have had to segregate prisoners because of racism. I wonder if the issue has been raised by any of the visiting committees? It is a serious indictment of the committees if this problem has not been raised.