Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of independent prison monitoring inspections that have taken place in 2006, 2007, 2008 and the proposed number for 2009; and the criteria on which these inspections are based. [36456/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Irish prisons are subject to inspection by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and the Visiting Committees appointed to each prison.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), which operates under the aegis of the Council of Europe, was established under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in 1987. The Committee has the right of unimpeded access at any time to any prison and are entitled to speak in private to any person detained therein. The CPT has visited Ireland for inspection purposes in 1993, 1998, 2002, and 2006. The CPT last visited Ireland in October 2006. The official report on their visit and the Irish Government's Response was published on 10 October, 2007, and is available on the Council of Europe website at http://www.cpt.coe.int.

An Office of Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention was created on a non-statutory basis in 2002. The office became statutory on the 1st October 2007 with the passing of the Prisons Act, 2007. The primary role of the Inspector is to carry out regular inspections of prisons and to report and make recommendations on what he finds. The Office of the Inspector of Prisons published reports on five prisons in 2006 and four in 2007. The reports are available on my Department's website, www.justice.ie. Further reports by the Inspector will be published in the coming weeks. As an independent statutory body, it is entirely a matter for the Inspector, which and how many prisons he chooses to visit and report on in any given year.

Under the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Act, 1925 and Prisons (Visiting Committees) Order, 1925, a Visiting Committee is appointed to each prison institution. They are required to report to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform any abuses observed or found by them in the prison and any repairs which they think may be urgently needed. Their Annual Reports are also available on my Department's website.

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