Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the action he has taken to review the success of small scale prisons on lowering recidivism rates; if he intends to promote small scale prisons in present and future Government capital investment for the management of offenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12842/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In line with the commitment in the Government Programme for National Recovery, I recently announced the establishment of a committee to review the Thornton Hall Prison Project. The committee's terms of reference are available on my Department's website at www.justice.ie.

Their terms of reference are wide ranging with the committee being asked to examine the need for new prison accommodation and to advise by 1 July 2011 whether the development of new prison accommodation at Thornton Hall should proceed taking into account, inter alia,

- current and future prisoner numbers of both men and women;

- the need for an adequate stock of prison accommodation that meet required standards including in particular, in cell sanitation, adequate rehabilitation, educational and work training facilities for prisoners as well as facilitating contact with family members and other standards identified by the Inspector of Prisons and relevant international bodies;

- the potential of alternatives to custody including legislative measures already proposed (Fines Act 2010, Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2011) to reduce the prisoner population;

- the relevance of Thornton to the existing prison structure and, in particular, to the Dóchas Centre; and

- the economic constraints facing the State.

I do not wish to pre-empt the recommendations of the Committee at this point in time.

In relation to recidivism, I am informed that the Irish Prison Service facilitated a major study of prisoner re-offending by the UCD Institute of Criminology, the findings of which were published in the May 2008 edition of the academic journal, Criminology & Criminal Justice. The recidivism rate was found by this study to be under 50% after 4 years. This rate is in the mid to lower range of recidivism rates when compared to similar countries internationally. The study did not, however, explore the impact of time spent in open centres on recidivism rates.