Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Mullins asked about the misuse and abuse of alcohol. The Minister has recently committed that a review of alcohol and drug prevention and treatment services for offenders be undertaken as quickly as possible.

I wholeheartedly support Senator Mooney's point about the community nature of policing. I had the honour of being the first chairman of a joint policing committee on a pilot scheme under the then Minister for Justice, the late Brian Lenihan, and I came to Dublin. It has proven to be remarkably successful and remains probably one of the most successful new changes to how policing in the country has developed.

On the question of the drain of senior gardaí, it is welcome that we have finally arrived once again at a point where we are retraining new young gardaí. In the spirit of the debate we must accept the catastrophic nature of the recession, and policies that were taken in the past meant that in many areas of Irish life we lost some very good people. As the economy recovers we are once again in a position to replace staff and encourage people to come into not only our police force but to other public services.

On the implementation of recommendations, the report envisages that progress on the implementation of the recommendations be published every six months, and the Minister intends to establish an implementation group with an independent chairperson to oversee implementation of these recommendations and report back on a regular basis. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is considering such an appointment and hopes to make an announcement in the near future. She will also refer the penal policy review group report to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence, following its consideration by Government at its meeting yesterday. I welcome comments made by Senators on how well the committee operates and functions. It is known throughout the Houses that the committee operates in a very collegiate manner.

I note the amendment to the motion seeking the implementation of the five recommendations of the joint committee's report. The report is a very valuable contribution to the debate on penal reform, and contains analysis and recommendations which considerably advance the debate on how best to protect society through effective offender management. Senator Bacik will deal with the amendment. It is a tribute to the joint committee that, under the capable chairmanship of Deputy David Stanton, there was cross-party support for a range of measures designed to further the development of an effective and progressive penal system.

In many ways the report of the joint committee complements the more recent report of the strategic review of penal policy, which took the joint committee's report into account. Naturally, the two reports have some variations in approach, and these can be examined as part of the ongoing process of implementation. These differences in detail underscore the variety of ways in which the agreed objective of penal reform can be advanced, and the Minister for Justice and Equality looks forward to working with Senators, members of the joint committee and others in achieving this goal.

On the recommendation to reduce prison numbers, the joint committee was right to be concerned about what up to then had been the significant increase in the number of prisoners, but thankfully these numbers have since been steadily reducing, and this has provided space, both literally and metaphorically, for reforming measures to be considered and introduced. I add a note of caution on setting a specific target, such as reducing the prison population by one third, as many factors must be taken into account, including the rate of crime and, of course, the independence of courts in making sentencing decisions. Sanctions must be appropriate to each offender, and not be constrained by a policy which simply seeks to reduce prison numbers.

The recommendation that all sentences of imprisonment for less than six months for non-violent offences should be commuted and replaced with community service orders draws on the success of a policy in Finland, which the committee visited, where a court may commute a sentence of less than eight months imprisonment to community work. In some ways our law, as set out in the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011, now goes further in that it not only makes community service available as an alternative, but positively obliges consideration of community service in any case where there might be a sentence of up to one year, rather than just six months. This was an important development in sentencing policy and the Minister is certainly open to considering whether any further steps could be taken.

The joint committee also recommended that the rate of standard remission of sentence should be increased from one quarter to one third for all sentences over one month in length, and that enhanced remission of up to one half should be available. This recommendation was considered by the penal policy review group. Underlining how there is room for legitimate variations of view on how to achieve a common goal, some members of the review group favoured the joint committee's recommendation, but overall the review group came down in favour of retention of the current system of remission, which has a standard rate of one quarter.

The joint committee also recommended that a single piece of legislation should provide for various forms of structured release, such as temporary release, including the community return scheme, and the recommended changes to the rates of remission. In principle, the Minister for Justice and Equality will certainly look for any opportunity, on sentencing matters or other criminal justice issues, for legislative consolidation. Whether consolidated or separate, what matters most is the substance of our law on the release of prisoners, and how it can aid rehabilitation, re-integration into the community, and ultimately reduced rates of re-offending. This is why the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is very pleased with the success of the community return scheme, and great credit is due to the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service for how it has operated so effectively.

The fifth and final recommendation in the report of the joint committee is to improve prison conditions, especially to deal with overcrowding, and to increase the proportion of open prison places. This recommendation is very much welcome, and I know the entire House will recognise and support the significant improvements in prison conditions we now see. Mountjoy Prison has been renovated and transformed, almost beyond recognition. A new Cork prison is being built in my constituency. Other significant improvement projects are also under way, including taking steps to provide an open centre for women.

The report of the joint committee, and the subsequent report of the strategic review of penal policy, which had the advantage of being able to consider the recommendations of the joint committee, are very important contributions to the debate on penal reform. They will be an invaluable source of advice to the Government and everyone interested in making progressive and effective changes to penal policy. In some respects the reports reflect entirely legitimate variations in views, but always with the same objective: to make our penal system such that offenders can be dealt with where appropriate with non-custodial sanctions, and that where offenders are sent to prison, when required, they are given every opportunity to rehabilitate and re-integrate safely into society, for the ultimate protection of all.