Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on establishing a commission on crime and punishment to identify the factors causing crime and to update and develop measures to address those factors taking into account international best practice in penal systems including the measures developed to rehabilitate offenders; if he will ensure that this includes an assessment of the infrastructural needs which all those involved in the prison system require; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18744/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The National Crime Council was established in 1999 by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to facilitate broadly based and well informed discussion on crime on an ongoing basis and to serve as an important aid to policy formulation.

The Council has four key roles, namely: to focus on crime prevention, with particular emphasis on the underlying causes of crime and the development of partnership and practical approaches which will be effective at community level; to focus directly on raising public knowledge and awareness of crime; to examine the 'fear of crime' and to address the issues including those relating to minorities which arise as a consequence of this fear; and to identify research priorities which could be commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The measures that can be taken to rehabilitate prisoners both within the Penal System and in the wider community were examined in some depth by the National Economic and Social Forum's Report No. 22, Re-integration of Prisoners, published in 2002. Implementation of this Report, in the context of the issues identified by it, has been progressing steadily and, in that regard, the replacement of the outdated and inappropriate facilities at Mountjoy and design of the new Prison Complex at Thornton Hall have been informed by the need to deliver regimes that support rehabilitation.

The Probation and Welfare Service currently has plans to review restorative justice models of practice in Ireland and internationally to inform future development of restorative justice projects and initiatives. I welcome this planned review and look forward to seeing the findings in due course. I am confident that the development of additional restorative justice initiatives, informed by the review, will deliver positive outcomes not just for the offender but also for victims of crime and more generally the whole community.