Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion and thank my colleague, Senator Bacik, for bringing this matter before us. I thank the Irish Penal Reform Trust for its briefing to us. It has welcomed this motion which calls on the Minister for Justice and Equality to outline her proposals for reform of penal policy in the context of the recommendations of the report on penal reform by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality - Senator Bacik was very active in regard to that report - and the strategic review of penal policy report. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's reflections on both of those reports.

I refer to some of the statistics Senator Bacik outlined. It was striking that on 3 November 2014, there were 3,760 prisoners in custody in this country, but one of the most striking statistics from my perspective was that the number of female committals had risen from 1,459 in 2009 to 2,326 in 2013, of which 1,894, almost 84%, were for non-payment of court ordered fines. That is a very important point we should keep at the forefront of this debate because there is no doubt in my mind, having dealt with the issue over a number of years in other quasi-judicial areas, that prison sentences for non-payment of fines smacks of the 19th century Dickensian style of approach and is wholly inappropriate in the 21st century.

In regard to penal reform generally, there is no doubt we need a coherent penal policy. There is a great benefit to be obtained from focusing on the root of the problem rather than just treating its symptoms and there is a benefit to the rule of law and society in general by providing certainty in regard to penal policy. It has always been my view, as someone who comes from a social policy background, that when we talk about penal policy, we underestimate the importance of background, in particular economic background and economic deprivation. I think it is acknowledged by all the reports on the issue that it is hopelessly inadequate to treat economic deprivation with prison sentences.

I think it was noted in the strategic review of penal policy that our current system was put together without any guiding principles or ends in mind and that, as far as penal policy is concerned, we have tended to react to events as they have occurred. We saw an increase in punitive sentences following the rise of gangland crime in the 1980s and 1990s, in particular following the murder of Veronica Guerin and the increase in drug use in Ireland. As someone who worked very much at the forefront of housing in Dublin, in particular during the 1980s, and who saw very much at first-hand the rise of drug crime in Dublin, there is no doubt in my mind that the rise in drug crime in Dublin was linked specifically to economic deprivation. There is no getting away from the link between penal policy and economic deprivation.

Imprisonment does not have an effect in reducing recidivism and, as has been pointed out, the evidence is there from other countries, such as Scotland, Australia, Canada and the US. If anything, the evidence shows the opposite. Putting people in prison increases their likelihood of re-offending. That is particularly true in the context of some of the communities that have been riddled by drugs and affected by recession in our society.

We need to avoid thinking of prison as a solution and focus on longer-term mechanisms for the reduction of crime. That is incredibly important in helping society as a whole as well as the offenders. I am conscious we are reviewing the whole process of the partnerships. As we know, many of the partnerships are based in areas where there is very significant deprivation. I am thinking of the northside partnership, the Ballymun partnership and the southside partnership, which are all based in areas where the issues of economic deprivation and social inclusion are very important. I take this opportunity to say to the Minister of State that we need to be very careful when we attempt to dismantle some of the initiatives put in place to try to deal with some of these very fundamental issues around economic deprivation and social inclusion.

When we send someone to prison, we do not ask often enough about his or her background. The reality is that many of those we find in our prisons left school at 16 years of age or younger. They have trouble reading and writing and they are more likely to be on drugs, to be homeless, to have a history of being in care and to have been impoverished. We must reduce the factors that lead to imprisonment rather than simply looking at imprisonment as an end in itself.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust has been very active on the issue of prisoners leaving prison and ensuring that when they leave prison, they do not end up in a situation of homelessness which we know leads to the revolving door syndrome of people re-entering a prison environment.

I echo what my colleague, Senator Bacik, said. However, I really believe we do not place enough emphasis on people who have a history of care and of homelessness. We know that two thirds of children who leave the care of the State experience homelessness and that there is a link between that and experience of prison. This is something we must deal with and resolve. Our emphasis has been too much on penal policy and imprisonment as a solution and not enough time has been spent looking at the causes of crime.