Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to the House.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this important Commencement matter. I join him in welcoming the Minister of State to the Chamber.

I have asked for the Minister to make a statement on when Ireland intends to ratify the optional protocol to the United Nations convention against torture. As the Minister of State knows, Ireland signed that convention in 2017 and is the only EU country yet to ratify it. To give some background, this came about as a result of some ongoing engagement with the Mental Health Bill that completed all Stages in the Oireachtas last week. We had, shall we say, a robust and protracted debate on many aspects of the Bill, which is only right and proper in these Houses. One of the recurring themes was human rights issues and concerns about those. Concerns were raised by the Mental Health Commission but during the previous week we had statements from the Minister for justice on the prison system generally as well as penal reform. They were statements as opposed to legislation, but again there was that recurring theme.

Much of what I have to say comes from the request by Mr. Mark Kelly, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, who has raised serious concerns about this issue. I draw the attention of the Minister of State and Senators to the Bar Council review published last week in which Mr. Kelly set out very clearly his concerns about the prisons. Prisons and mental health are two different things but the Minister of State will of course be aware that RTÉ's "Prime Time" did a major investigation into the mental health issues associated with people who were incarcerated in prisons. The overcrowding is another challenge but I do not want to get too far removed from the core of what I want to ask the Minister of State about.

In Mr. Kelly's article, which I will make available to Members later but is in the library as we speak, he does not mince his words about his concerns. I will list the concerns, as I understand them. Ratification is critical to creating independent oversight of our prisons, psychiatric units and detention facilities, as recommenced by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Key implications of the delay have been put to me and I am satisfied that they meet these criteria because I have spoken to a number of NGOs, Departments and other Government bodies. The concerns can be summarised as follows. We are missing the oversight mechanism. Ireland has not formally established an independent national preventative mechanism to inspect places of confinement, as required by the treaty. The treaty applies to all areas where liberty is restricted, including mental health units, immigration centres and Garda stations. There are concerns about those places. I understand that the Department of justice has been developing an inspection of places of detention Bill but I do not know where all of that is at. I understand that elements have yet to be finalised. I believe the Minister is absolutely committed to a wide consultation with all the people involved but there are serious issues in relation to this. I understand that the Government has cited on many occasions that there are complex issues around the consultation and it has emphasised it is its intention to safeguard people, especially vulnerable individuals in detention.

My real question is on when the Government intends to ratify this important protocol. I will finish by thanking the Irish Penal Reform Trust, which the Minister of State is very aware of, as well as Mental Health Ireland and other advocates and NGOs in this sector. The real question is when will Ireland will be in a position to fully ratify the optional protocol to the United Nations convention against torture, which is important safeguarding legislation.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very important matter. The Minister sends his apologies for not being able to attend. I did read Mark Kelly's article. The Senator is right; it does make for interesting reading. Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2002 and signed the optional protocol to the convention, OPCAT, in 2007. OPCAT obliges signatory states to establish a system of inspections of all places where persons can be detained to be carried out by inspection bodies to be known as national preventive mechanisms, NPMs. This will mean making changes to how prisons are inspected but it will also affect other places where persons are detained for any reason, such as detention in the Central Mental Hospital and the detention of children in Oberstown.

The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is currently working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to draft the legislation needed to enable ratification, namely, the inspection of places of detention Bill. This is a commitment in the 2025 programme for Government and the intention is to publish the Bill in the coming months.

The legislation will provide for the designation of a single NPM to visit and inspect all places of detention in the justice sector and for Government Ministers in other sectors to appoint appropriate NPMs for places of detention within their remit, for example, certain healthcare settings. The existing post of Inspector of Prisons will be replaced by a new post of chief inspector of places of detention to take on the role of NPM for the justice sector, to include prisons, Garda stations, the courts and vehicles used by the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána. This means that the new chief inspector will have a mandate to monitor a person’s entire journey through detention, from the point of being placed in a Garda vehicle, through to their time in a cell in a Garda station, in court, on remand and, if sentenced, into a term of imprisonment. The OPCAT will be ratified after the legislation is passed by the Oireachtas. It is expected that the necessary arrangements will be in place within the following 12 months to ensure that inspections can be carried out in places of detention across the State.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is very encouraging and succinct. I like the responses to Commencement matters that come from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration because they are clear. There is a great sense of clarity about them. We now have a timeline that the Minister of State has confirmed to the House, which is great. It is 12 months. It would be ideal if it could be a bit shorter but clearly there is a lot of work to do. It has to go through both Houses so there are a lot of bits and pieces to that and I understand that. I thank the Minister of State. It is good news in that an agreement is now in place and a clear understanding of the pathway to see the full ratification of this important document. I again thank the Minister of State and ask him to convey my thanks to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To give further clarity to the House, in preparation for its future role as the inspectorate of places of detention, the current Office of the Inspector of Prisons, OIP, is participating in the Council of Europe NPM forum and attending the NPM workshops. The OIP is also engaging with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to designate a co-ordinating body of the multi-member NPM in the general scheme.

Stakeholder engagement is ongoing and has commenced with An Garda Síochána as well as the existing Garda accountability mechanisms, including the Policing and Community Safety Authority and Fiosrú. Planning is taking place regarding future training needs within the inspectorate and framework development for the future monitoring and functioning of the office and the Inspector of Prisons has been supported with additional funding and resources to expand the current prison inspection programme and to prepare the office for its new role as NPM.