Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 153: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his response to the most recent reports of the Inspector of Prisons, Mr. Dermot Kinlen; the action being taken to address the serious shortcomings in conditions identified in the reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30608/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I presume the Deputy is referring to the Fourth Annual Report of the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention and the Report of the Inspection of Cloverhill Prison which were published by me in August, 2006.

At the outset I would like to recall that these reports coincided with a period of profound change in the Prison Service during which the decades long problem of dependency on excessive prison overtime was finally confronted — a confrontation which unavoidably impacted on long developed prisoner regimes.

As the Deputy will be aware, a situation had developed in the Prison Service whereby the capital budget and every other budget within the system was being cannibalised to fund overtime expenditure. This reached a peak in 2003 when €60 million was spent on overtime — approximately 20% of the entire prison budget.

In order to reverse this wholly unsustainable and incredibly damaging dependence on overtime, I put in place a number of measures including major cutbacks in overtime expenditure and new attendance arrangements. These measures led to cuts, for necessary operational reasons, in services to prisoners in the period covered by the Inspector's reports.

However, following prolonged negotiations the POA, in August 2005, accepted a proposal for organisational change eliminating overtime working and introducing new organisational and working arrangements which will provide long term savings to the Exchequer of up to €25m per annum. These new arrangements will not only restore but actually enhance prisoner regimes in the years ahead, particularly in terms of improving access to services, the availability of better facilities, and making more productive use of out-of-cell time for prisoners.

In this regard, much progress has been made in the last 12 months in improving educational and workshop facilities for prisoners including:

the refurbishment of 5 workshops in St Patrick's Institution which will lead to FETAC accreditation in metal work, woodwork, computers, industrial cleaning and other industrial skills. The new workshops will give constructive activity to over 70 inmates and the rollout of the opening of these new workshops is almost complete; and

the refurbishment of Cloverhill Education Centre which has recently been completed. Classes have now commenced and courses are being rolled out on a phased basis.

The Fourth Annual Report of the Inspector covers the period April 2005 — April 2006 and deals with a wide range of issues including staffing levels, the establishment of an Inspector of Prisons on a statutory footing, prisoners rights to vote, the privatisation of prisons, recidivism, drug addiction and prisoners with psychiatric illnesses.

In relation to shortcomings in conditions, the Inspector calls in his report for the immediate closure of St. Patrick's Institution. The lack of modern facilities at St. Patrick's Institution has been the subject of justified criticism not only by the Inspector of Prisons but also by other oversight and monitoring bodies. The Government shares the views expressed that St. Patrick's Institution is no longer suitable as a place of detention for young people and that its complete replacement is required. The Institution, together with other detention facilities on the Mountjoy Prison complex, will be closed as soon as planned new facilities are constructed on a green field site at Thornton Hall, Co. Dublin. Separate facilities will be available at Thornton Hall for 16 and 17 year old boys. The new campus will allow us to develop progressive rehabilitative programmes, introduce enhanced educational facilities and to introduce single occupancy cells with in-cell sanitation to end the practice of slopping out.

The development of the new prison campus will also provide the Irish Prison Service with room for future expansion ensuring that there is no return to the revolving door of the mid 1990s when the Rainbow Government presided over a situation with 20% of prisoners on temporary release. By way of comparison, on 28 September, 2006 there were 3,314 persons in the prison system, of whom 156 (4.7%) were on temporary release. The reason for the significant fall in the percentage of prisoners on temporary release between 1996 and 2006 is because this Government has provided some 1,100 net additional prison spaces since 1997. In addition, over 400 new places are in the process of being provided for at Shelton Abbey, Loughan House, Castlerea, Portlaoise and Wheatfield Prisons.

The Inspector also calls for the elimination of drugs in prisons and the introduction of sniffer dogs in prisons such as Mountjoy. As the Deputy is aware the elimination of drugs in our prisons is one of my key priorities. In order to achieve this, a Drug Detection Dog was introduced into the prison system earlier this year. The service is based in the Midlands Prison and it is planned that trials will be carried out from that base across the estate. This initial phase is being used to test the effectiveness of drug dogs in Irish Prisons and also to act as a learning exercise for the Irish Prison Service to refine its precise approach in a wider deployment. The pilot has proved extremely successful to date and the dog has detected significant numbers of smuggling attempts and also acts as a strong deterrent to such activities. It is intended that the Drug Detection Dog will be used in Mountjoy in the near future.

However, Drugs Detection Dogs are just one of a much wider range of measures contained in the new Irish Prison Service Drugs Policy & Strategy which I launched earlier this year. The new Policy & Strategy provides, for the first time, a co-ordinated and consistent national approach to dealing with the thorny problem of the supply of drugs as well as ensuring that appropriate treatment is available to prisoners to help them conquer their addiction. The Policy is currently being rolled out across the prison system.

The new replacement Mountjoy and Munster prison complexes will also be constructed with an extensive perimeter to prevent drugs being thrown over the wall thus facilitating drug-free regimes.

In relation to prisoners with psychiatric illnesses, the Inspector expressed concern regarding the treatment of mentally ill prisoners and prisoners with personality disorders and recommends that the Department of Health and Children take responsibility for such prisoners.

The Irish Prison Service is committed to healthcare standards comparable with those pertaining in the wider community outside prison. Prisoners have access to medical, nursing, psychiatric, and psychological services within the prison system. The psychiatric needs of prisoners are serviced by visiting psychiatrists. The psychiatric service of the Eastern Coast Area Health Board at the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum (which is under the management of the HSE and the Department of Health and Children) provide regular weekly counselling and treatment sessions at the Dublin prisons. In other locations services are provided by local psychiatrists.

Offenders who, in the opinion of the psychiatrist and the Prison Doctor are in need of in-patient psychiatric treatment, may be transferred by Order to either the Central Mental Hospital or a District Mental Hospital. However, the Central Mental Hospital is the only psychiatric in-patient hospital that will, in effect, accept prisoners. Due to increased demand on this facility from various sources in recent years it has frequently been the situation that a waiting list occurs for admission and priority is on clinical need. This situation arises in spite of general agreement regarding the necessity for admission and, while awaiting a bed to become available, the prison authorities may be left with no alternative but to seek to manage a disturbed individual in conditions which provide the greatest degree of protection for the individual, for other prisoners, and for staff.

My Department and the Irish Prison Service is continually engaged with the Department of Health and Children and the HSE in a process aimed at co-ordinating the provision of Healthcare (including psychiatric services) to prisoners.

In relation to the use of padded cells, I have honoured my commitment to abolish the use of old style padded cells with the introduction of newly designed and improved cells. Special Observation Cells are not used for routine reasons and are only used in cases where a prisoner is in a highly agitated state and where he or she is at risk of harming themselves or others. No mentally ill prisoner awaiting a move to the Central Mental Hospital is detained in a special cell unless this is unavoidably necessary. Such a practice is not common place and only takes place where the safety of prisoners require such use.