Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the name of the present chairperson of the prison visiting committee at Limerick Prison; the qualifications they have for the position; the number of visits he has made to the prison; the number of meetings of the prison visiting committee which they have chaired in the past six months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22108/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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A Visiting Committee is appointed to each prison under the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Act, 1925 and Prisons (Visiting Committees) Order, 1925. The function of Visiting Committees is to visit at frequent intervals the prison to which they are appointed and hear any complaints which may be made to them by any prisoner. They report to me any abuses observed or found by them in the prison and any repairs which they think may be urgently needed. The Visiting Committee have free access either collectively or individually to every part of their prison.

Members of Committees are appointed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a term not exceeding three years. At that point they are automatically removed from the Committee and are either re-appointed for a further term or are replaced by new members. There are no specific criteria used in selecting individuals for appointment. The composition of each committee is drawn from as wide a spectrum as possible to ensure that the needs of prisoners are understood and met. This is the long standing practice used by successive Ministers in appointing members to the Prisons Visiting Committees.

Each Committee elects their own Chairperson and neither myself nor my Department plays any role in this selection process. I have been advised that the current Chairperson to Limerick Prison Visiting Committee is Mr Tony Lane. Since being appointed Chairperson in November, 2005, Mr Lane has made a total of twenty eight visits to Limerick Prison to date. I am further informed that he has chaired a total of five Visiting Committee meetings in the past six months.