Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

The difficulty highlighted by the inspector was that on the two nights of 18 December 2003 and 4 January 2004 there was significant overcrowding in the holding cells in Mountjoy Prison due to a high number of committals from the courts. The situation was quickly alleviated by the re-opening of a portion of the A wing of a prison which continues to be in use.

Following the rejection by ballot of the programme for organisational change, it has been very difficult to set aside time for staff training and development as the replacement of staff continues to occur on an overtime basis. Mandatory training on breathing apparatus and control and restraint modules has, however, been given priority.

I share the inspector's concerns about the committal to prison of people with psychiatric illnesses and agree that an effective mechanism to divert such people from the criminal justice system to psychiatric care services is most desirable. The matter is being addressed at executive level in the context of the implementation of the report on the structure and organisation of prison health care services. The Government established a special committee to draw up a service level agreement on the admission of mentally ill prisoners to the Central Mental Hospital and their treatment there. The committee comprises representatives of the Department of Health and Children, the Irish Prison Service, the HSE, east coast area, and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I have been advised by the Department of Health and Children that the implementation of phase 1 of the service level agreement has already commenced with the allocation to the Central Mental Hospital of additional revenue funding of €1 million and capital funding of €1 million in 2004. I am pleased to note that a 15-bed, male unit for the treatment of prisoners with psychiatric illnesses is due to be opened at the hospital in the near future while the recruitment of an additional 33 staff is currently underway.

In December 2004, the Government decided, in principle and subject to further study, that a new central mental hospital would be developed on the site acquired for the new Mountjoy Prison replacement complex at Thornton, County Dublin. I emphasise that the new central mental hospital will be a health facility providing a therapeutic forensic psychiatric service to the highest international standards in a state-of-the-art building. The hospital will remain under the aegis of the Department of Health and Children and will be owned and managed by the Health Service Executive. The Tánaiste has asked her officials to examine the option of providing a separate governance structure for the hospital by way of its own board to reflect its importance as a national, tertiary psychiatric service. It is intended to develop the hospital independently of the prison complex to replace Mountjoy Prison by means of a separate capital development project managed and directed by the Health Service Executive.

Since taking office, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has placed a priority on the proper care and management of vulnerable prisoners with mental disabilities. He has been especially concerned to ensure the replacement of the existing padded cells used in our closed prison institutions with a more humane regime providing for better ventilation and lighting, diversion for prisoners and better monitoring by prison staff. Over the past two years, the Irish Prison Service has developed two new designs for such prisoners. These are close supervision cells and safety observation cells. The main additional features of the cells are new bed installations, new doors with better observation facilities, cell light as close to natural daylight as possible, a cell call system, televisions and in-cell sanitation. Special clothing for prisoners in such cells has been introduced. New guidelines have been issued to ensure the cells are used under strict supervision and only as a last resort. The changes will help greatly to meet the needs and respect the dignity and self-respect of prisoners in a manner consistent with their safety. The new cells were introduced to Cloverhill Prison in 2004 and will be introduced on a phased basis at the other closed prisons over the next 12 months at a cost of approximately €3 million.

The inspector has also made recommendations in his annual reports on the probation and welfare service. The Minister established recently a small working group involving departmental and Probation and Welfare Service officials to build on existing work, including the expert group report on the Probation and Welfare Service and the value-for-money audit of the service by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The group will identify the type of service which may be required in future, relative priorities, resource implications, different methods of providing the services and the research and evaluation available or required to determine the effectiveness of various options.

The inspector raised concerns about the independence of prison chaplains which, I assure the House, there is no question of diluting. While the head chaplain was offered an office at Irish Prison Service headquarters, the intention was to afford him the opportunity to have a greater influence on policy making at that level. There was certainly no question of seeking to compromise his influence as a chaplain.

There is already extensive use of video conferencing at Cloverhill Prison to accommodate prisoners due to appear at Cloverhill Courthouse. Officials from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Irish Prison Service participated in a committee headed by Ms Justice Susan Denham which published its report in January 2005. One of the main recommendations of the report was the establishment of a pilot programme by the Irish Prison Service and the Courts Service for the carrying out by video link of bail, remand and other pre-trial court applications involving prisoners. The Irish Prison Service is considering the recommendations in the report.

In addition, a building project involving the conversion of F block in Cloverhill to a set of video court booths is almost complete and is expected to be brought into use for legal visits and certain pre-trial court applications in October 2005. The Denham committee report also proposed draft legislation for the carrying out of bail, remand and other pre-trial applications over video link. In May 2005, the Minister presented the Prisons Bill 2005 to the Seanad and Senators will be aware that it contained provisions to give effect to the Denham committee's recommendations.

The inspector also referred to the existence of racism in the prison system. It is an unfortunate fact that racism is to be found in all walks of life and the Irish prison system is no more or less immune to such attitudes than any other aspect of Irish society or societies internationally. In recognition of this reality, the Irish Prison Service initiated independent research on racial and cultural awareness and communication in our prisons which was published in 2003. In keeping with the findings of the research the Irish Prison Service philosophy of treating all persons in its care with courtesy and respect, the service is reviewing its internal procedures for staff training and the processing of prisoner complaints. It is policy to investigate all complaints, train staff in expected behaviours and develop a supportive environment for vulnerable prisoners from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Efforts are made to meet and respect the spiritual and other needs, including special dietary needs, of non-national prisoners.

The inspector made a number of observations on the Irish Prison Service headquarters, including reference to the number of staff employed. There are significantly fewer headquarters staff in proportion to total staff in the Irish Prison Service than in national prison services in other jurisdictions. Statistics for prison service staffing indicate that Prison Service headquarters strength is low by international standards.

The inspector referred to co-operation from the Department. When senior officials met recently with the inspector to discuss what further measures could be adopted to facilitate the flow of information, it was agreed that more regular meetings on matters of mutual interest would be held. I hope the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of the inspector.