Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I ask the Leader of the House to invite the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to this House to debate the Prison Service. I know he will be present on Thursday next for the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2002, but when the Minister was outside these Houses he was a great critic of the Prison Service. He has been in his current position for the past ten months or so and has brought nothing forward in relation to that service.

I am referring to a number of problems which have previously been raised in this Chamber, but the Minister himself has brought up one of these issues, the proposed abolition of prison officers' overtime. While none of us would agree with some of the salaries that some of the prison officers were earning, I would like to have a debate on that matter in this House. We should also debate once again the prison visiting committees, an issue the Minister has done nothing about since our previous debate on the issue in this Chamber. The drugs problem, and incidents relating to racism within the prisons, likewise need to be addressed. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to come to this House and explain why he has not brought forward a Bill relating to the Prison Service, as he said he would.