Seanad debates

Thursday, 24 October 2024

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Prison Service

9:30 am

Photo of Lynn RuaneLynn Ruane (Independent)
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I much prefer to have conversations such as this with the appropriate Minister, but I recognise that in his time as Chair of the justice committee the Minister of State will understand the issues I will speak about. I am not over-exaggerating the point when I say that the current situation in Irish prisons is not only dangerous but is a matter of life and death. The overcrowding situation we see right now has resulted in very recent deaths as a result of having to double people up. We have seen the impact overcrowding can have, not only on prisoners but on prison staff in terms of tensions rising. When there is overcrowding, decisions on security have to be made, which means it can have a negative impact on the likes of the prison school and gym and all the different situations that are rehabilitative rather than security driven.

There had to be an FOI request recently to get information on the recommendations made by the prison overcrowding response group because the report was not publicised by the Minister. There are some very key recommendations in that report. Some of those are long term, including the community sanctions legislation and expanding Trinity Court and the drugs court. However, there is stuff that could happen right now. If we were move towards discounting sentences, without exceptions, 150 prisoners would be released overnight. That is 150 prisoners who would be out of the system. That could happen right now.Instead, what we are seeing from the Minister is legislation being prioritised, like increasing sentences for knife crime in the Life Sentences Bill 2024 that is going to be coming before the Joint Committee on Justice. These types of legislation are an illusion of safety and of addressing things because they do not act as a deterrent to crime, they do not reduce the prison population and they do not reduce violence. Instead, legislation like this is being prioritised over having an impact in the system in the moment.

On short sentences, last year alone, 79% of sentences were under 12 months in duration. In 2023, 79% of committals for last year were for shorter than 12 months. There has to be a more sensible way. Why would we be putting people in for short sentences? That is not advocating for people to get longer sentences, but to make sure the supports are in place so that we can see community sanctions happen within communities and that we relieve the pressure on the prison system.

Another area that needs to be looked at is the expansion of probation. Other countries have a much more expansive probation system that even goes into things like step-down accommodation when people are coming out of prison. We have people in prison right now who are not being released because they are homeless. Imagine being detained because of the situation with homelessness in this country. We need to be able to address that, and some of that can be addressed by looking at the prison system with regard to how we can expand the Probation Service.

We also had recommendations from that group which looked at the curtailing of the use of remand. We heard about this in the Joint Committee on Justice. Right now, people are being held on remand for crimes for which they are presumed innocent. We have huge overcrowding with regard to remand and a misuse of remand. That needs to be addressed today. Right now, I am sure the prison system is making decisions on how it can release prisoners who have been sentenced, so it can detain prisoners who are on remand. I reiterate that right now, it is a situation of life and death in terms of the prison system. It always concerns me when Ministers choose the idea of giving the illusion of doing something by looking at long-term issues around increasing sentencing and mandatory sentencing. None of that addresses the issues. It is really important for a Minister to recognise that he or she is not an expert. Right now, the experts are very clearly calling for and making recommendations on how we can address overcrowding in the prison system today as well as other long-term issues.

Photo of James LawlessJames Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. At the outset, I wish to acknowledge her advocacy for this sector and many other issues in the justice area. As she said, I had the pleasure of working with her on the justice committee for a number of years. I also thank her for arranging a visit to Mountjoy Prison in which I participated. She worked with the inmates through the medium of drama, essentially, an art, showing the individuals as human beings, for better or worse, as all of us are, as opposed to numbers in a prison system. That was a really worthwhile exercise. I commend her on her work on that. It was really important. Certainly, I left with a different mindset after that exercise. I want to acknowledge that.

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. I can update the House that in July 2023, a prison overcrowding response group, composed of officials from the Department of Justice and representatives from relevant agencies, was established to consider measures to address capacity issues across the prison estate. This summer in June 2024, on foot of a report from that group, the Minister approved a range of actions, and work to implement these is ongoing.

These actions include developing new, innovative responses to deliver structured temporary release for suitable prisoners, progressing actions to increase the use of community service as a priority and advancing legislative changes to support the delivery of community-based sanctions more generally. Justice Plan 2024 commits to a review of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014, and preparations have now commenced for a number of changes to the 2014 general scheme to increase the use of community sanctions.

The Minister is very conscious of the challenges placed on the prison environment and the Irish Prison Service due to the increased prison population. To help address these measures, the Minister secured significant funding in budget 2025 to enhance the existing prison infrastructure and provide additional capacity. The capital budget for the Irish Prison Service will increase by over 70% in 2025 as part of the plan to deliver 1,100 extra spaces between now and 2030 and, accordingly, to hire hundreds of extra staff, with 150 prison staff to be hired in 2025. This is in addition to 240 prison officers recruited in 2024. Funding has also been secured for 130,000 additional staff hours in 2025. This represents one of the fastest ever expansions of prison capacity in Ireland. Works are in progress to deliver over 150 additional spaces by the year end. As part of these plans, the Minister secured capital funding of €159 million for the years 2024 to 2026, including an increase of €49.5 million through the most recent national development plan allocations, which will support the delivery of these plans.

Separately, to further consider future prison capacity needs, the Minister established a new working group to make recommendations on the numbers and types of prison capacity needed out to 2035. As part of this work, the group will also make recommendations on the future use of the Thornton Hall site. An initial report will be provided to the Minister next month in November.

In summary, there are a number of actions, including the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill, which is being considered to look at alternative sanctions, the increase in capacity and staffing, which is intended to alleviate some of those overcrowding issues to which the Senator referred, and the additional work in terms of the working group, which is expected to report very shortly. I hope those actions are of some assistance to the Senator's query.

Photo of Lynn RuaneLynn Ruane (Independent)
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Unfortunately, I do not think they are. There are four paragraphs from the Minister on more prison places but not reducing the need for prisons in the first place. That is so short-sighted. It lacks analysis, nuance, ambition and understanding of the issue where right now, we have a situation where the prison is completely overcrowded. It is not able to operate at the capacity it would like or able to offer the rehabilitative measures it needs to. Right now, there is nothing within that plan that states how we are going to release prisoners today.

There are life-sentence prisoners near the end of their sentence who can benefit no more from the system. They have completed their degrees and training and alternatives to violence work. They are out working in communities. They are doing their temporary release. There are so many measures that can be taken right now if the Minister was brave enough to make decisions against what she may think are political decisions because people will wonder why she is releasing prisoners. She needs to be brave in those decisions. All I am seeing in that response is how we create more prison places, so that we can lock more people up. I know I am putting that in very blunt terms, but I would have much preferred to see from the Minister's response today what she plans to do immediately and how she can make that meaningful.

Photo of James LawlessJames Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Again, I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I note what she said in her responding remarks. As the Senator is well aware, sentencing practice and sentencing per se is a matter for the courts and the trial judge as opposed to any politician or government. The Prison Service is thereby obliged to accept into custody anybody who is sentenced. That is wholly a matter for the courts to decide. It is a fact that Ireland's population continues to grow. The Minister wants to assure the Senator that Government remains committed to increasing the capacity of our prisons, although I accept the Senator suggests that perhaps alternative sanctions or reducing the number of people in custody in the first place may be the preferred solution. The Minister is committed to increasing capacity, however, which will alleviate overcrowding at the very least. Perhaps there is agreement on that between the sides in any event. That is more than just about increasing prison capacity. It is about providing a safe and secure custody environment for all people committed to prison while also ensuring a safe working environment for the staff. That point is important.

The programme for Government does contain a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, and a specific commitment to review policy options in the area of prison and penal reform. The Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024 was published in August 2022. Work is ongoing on the priority actions of that review, including increasing the use of alternatives to custodial sanctions where they are available. In addition, implementation of the recommendations made by the high-level task force on the mental health and addiction challenges of those interacting with the criminal justice system are being progressed. Indeed, the first annual progress report on the implementation of that task force's recommendations was published earlier this year, and it does show concerted work across the Department of Justice and Department of Health as well as multiple agencies. Senator Ruane, through her work, brings her best and engages with those initiatives. I know she is well aware of those activities.

Photo of Martin ConwayMartin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I thank the Senator for highlighting a very important issue.