Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend the motion and congratulate Senator Henry on putting it to the House this evening. It would be better if the Government were to put its hands up and accept it as recommendations have been made but not acted on. Instead, the Government side has moved an amendment to the motion to support proposals of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on five counts.

The amendment invites the House to welcome the Minister's decision to establish another small working group, which is typical of the Government's record since it took office. Where we do not see proposals, we are invited to welcome a decision when no real decision has been made but for a decision to commission another working group report. It is Government by report. When an excellent report like that of Mr. Justice Dermot Kinlen is produced, we see very little action by Government. Government action is lacking in many areas, one of which, certainly, is the Irish Prison Service.

I wonder when the recommendations which have been made will be placed on a statutory footing. An inspectorate of prisons was established for England and Wales in 1980 and for Scotland in 1981, but, as usual, we lag behind in this very important area. It is all very well having reports of this nature but it is the response of Government to the recommendations that will determine their effectiveness. To date, that response has been very disappointing. The Government has failed to respond adequately to the many excellent recommendations of Mr. Justice Kinlen.

Serious concerns have been expressed about systems put in place within the Prison Service to deal with mentally ill patients. This matter has been raised by Senator Henry, in particular, on numerous occasions. Last year two people took their own lives in Arbour Hill Prison within days of being returned to the prison following short stays at the Central Mental Hospital. A third man transferred from the hospital back to the prison also attempted to kill himself but was saved by prison staff. It is very disturbing to read in the report of instances such as this in our prisons.

I welcome the Minister of State's reference to the appointment of additional psychologists in the Prison Service to work with inmates on a one to one basis. It is a cause of concern that so many people in prison are in need of therapeutic intervention. The Prison Service has no option but to accommodate any person given a custodial sentence by the courts but a decision on the long-term suitability of prison vis-À-vis a mental health institution should be determined at an early stage.

According to Mr. Justice Kinlen, the closure of Shanganagh Castle in December 2002 was a retrograde step. It left Ireland as the only member state in the European Union with no open facility for juveniles. This facility was described as a jewel in the crown of the Prison Service. There is no alternative at present but for juveniles to mix with the harder core offenders in St. Patrick's Institution. The opportunity for rehabilitation offered by Shanganagh Castle is no longer available. According to the report, the juvenile branch of the penal system is hopelessly inadequate. I am anxious to know how it is proposed to deal with this inadequacy in the system for juveniles.

According to the Irish Human Rights Commission, the independence, functions and powers of the Inspector of Prisons should be accompanied by an independent and impartial complaints mechanism for prisoners. It also states that there should be a long-term strategy to address conditions of detention. The Irish Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned that the overall conditions of detention in much of the prison system are unsatisfactory and do not comply with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment standards and developing requirements under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The report catalogues many incidents and makes recommendations on which we should act. Some of the recommendations will not require many additional resources and I cannot understand why they are not being put into effect. As Senator Henry mentioned, when the judge was appointed he was told he could take a holiday for six months. It is evident that there is no willingness within the Department for him to do an effective job, which he is doing under dreadful conditions. This situation must be brought to an end. We must put an inspectorate in place on a statutory basis and give Mr. Justice Kinlen the additional resources he requires.

The situation in Limerick Prison is highlighted in the report. Staff morale there has deteriorated as a result of budgetary cutbacks and some of these cutbacks affect services for prisoners. As part of the cutbacks there are no visits for prisoners on Tuesdays along with a list of other changes which the report states are not geared towards improving the morale of staff or the services to prisoners.

Many of the recommendations in the report of the Inspector of Prisons should be acted on as a matter of urgency and should not be put on the long finger. Obviously some of the recommendations will require additional resources but others could be implemented overnight if the willingness was there.

The recommendation that the Department of Health and Children take responsibility for prisoners with psychiatric illnesses, personality disorders and other disabilities, to ensure the services and facilities that are available to the public in psychiatric hospitals or units are also available to prisoners, is one that should be acted upon as a matter of urgency in light of some details which I highlighted earlier.

Recommendation 6.3, that juveniles should not be mixed with adult prisoners, is a point which must be acted on without delay. Recommendation 6.6 states that all committals to prison should receive a physical medical examination by a doctor and that this practice should be implemented immediately. This could be implemented without the expenditure of much additional resources.

I call on the Minister to implement the recommendations. However, there does not appear to be a willingness on the part of the Department to do so. If that is the case, the Minister should put up his hands and state he will not implement them rather than codding people with proposals but doing damn all about it. I would have thought the Secretary General who has a deep interest in the penal system, as he worked in it, would want to have many of the recommendations implemented. I want to know why the recommendations have not yet been implemented.