Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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152. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a list of all persons appointed to prison visiting committees from 1 April 2011 to date in 2014, in tabular form, including the name, date appointed and visiting committee in each case; a list of expenses incurred by each appointee over the course of his or her appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23826/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Visiting Committee members are appointed for a period of three years by the Minister for Justice and Equality under the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Act 1925 and Prisons (Visiting Committees) Order 1925. There are fourteen Visiting Committees in existence – one for each institution. The following table sets out the 65 appointments made to Prison Visiting Committees from 1 April 2011 to date.

Detailed figures for the remuneration of each committee member from 2011 to date are not readily available and would require a disproportionate amount of staff time and effort to prepare which would be difficult to justify in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources. However, I can inform the Deputy that a per diem payment at a current rate of €142.50 per visit or meeting, which is subject to tax, is paid to Visiting Committee members. Members are also entitled to claim vouched travel expenses of €30 per visit. The following table sets out the total expenditure paid to the Visiting Committees over each of the past three years.