Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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146. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when a decision will be made on an application by a person (details supplied) for the prison visiting committee at Midlands Prison. [20719/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that 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.

Each Visiting Committee comprises no more than six members, and only suitable people with appropriate qualifications and a genuine interest in prison issues are appointed. As the Deputy will appreciate, vacancies arise and fall to be filled on Visiting Committees on an ongoing basis.

All expressions of interest in appointment to a Prison Visiting Committee are kept on file for consideration when the Tánaiste is next making appointments.