Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 381: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has plans to remove the Irish Prison Service from its current status as part of his Department and to establish it as an independent statutory board along the lines discussed in the report published by his Department in 1997 called Towards an Independent Prisons Agency; if not, the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24656/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I have no plans to establish the Irish Prison Service as an independent statutory body. The recently published OECD report which looked at the Irish Public Service expressed views on the establishment of new agencies and that report will, in part, inform any future consideration that may be given to placing the Service on a statutory footing.