Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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609. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will publish the Inspector of Prisons' Report into the Dóchas Centre. [17962/22]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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610. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of reports by the Inspector of Prisons that relate to the Dóchas Centre that have not been published to date; and if she will provide the rationale for not publishing same. [17963/22]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she intends to publish the report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons on the Dóchas Centre submitted to her on 15 February 2022 and carried out under section 3(2) of the Prisons Act ; the reason for the delay in publishing the report; the actions she intends taking on foot of the receipt of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18348/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 609, 610 and 631 together.

The Office of the Inspector of Prisons was established under the Prisons Act 2007 and is independent in how it carries out its functions. The Inspector's key role is to carry out regular inspections of prisons.

There are currently 3 reports submitted to me by the Inspector of Prisons which relate to Mountjoy Women’s Prison (Dóchas Centre) and which have not yet been published.

The Inspector of Prisons' three day monitoring report of the Dóchas Centre was received in my office in August 2020.

The Inspector was also asked to carry out an investigation into matters arising in the Dóchas Centre, under section 31(2) of the Prisons Act. As the Deputy will be aware it was always my intention to consider both of these reports together.

The Inspector submitted the section 31(2) investigation report to me on the 15 February 2022 and it is currently being examined by my officials. Based on legal advice received by my Department, it is not proposed to publish this report at this time.

In addition, as the Deputy will be aware, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to monitor the situation within prisons for prisoners and staff, the Inspector suspended her 2021 general inspection programme and instead embarked on a COVID-19 focused inspection schedule, designed to provide a human rights-based assessment of the response of the Irish Prison Service to the pandemic. Eight of these reports were published during 2021. The final set of the thematic reports dealing with the following prisons: Loughan House Open Centre; Midlands; Castlerea; and Mountjoy Women’s (Dóchas Centre), have been submitted to my Department and will be published shortly.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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611. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Inspector of Prisons has highlighted any issues of concern regarding the Irish Prison Service or officials in her Department into their ability to carry their function in respect of their reporting. [17964/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Office of the Inspector of Prisons was established under the Prisons Act 2007 and is independent in how it carries out its functions. The Inspector's key role is to carry out regular inspections of prisons.

As the Deputy may be aware, Section 31 of the Prisons Act 2007 provides that the Inspector of Prisons can at any time enter any prison or any part of a prison, request and obtain from the Governor a copy of any books, records, other documents kept in the prison.

Governors, prison officers, other persons employed in prisons and prisoners are required by law, in as far as reasonably practicable, to comply with any request for information from the Inspector as they perform their functions.

The Prison Service actively encourages prisoners at all times to engage with the independent bodies making inspections of prisons including the Inspector of Prison, the Prison Visiting Committees and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane Treatment. To assist prisoners in this regard, the Prison Service provides prisoners with information on these bodies via the Prisoner Information Booklet.

In 2021, in response to the pandemic, and the need to monitor the situation within prisons for prisoners and staff, the Inspector of Prisons suspended her planned 2021 general inspection programme and instead embarked on a Covid-19 focused inspection schedule, designed to provide a human rights-based assessment of the response of the Prison Service to the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic the Prison Service continued to facilitate access to prisons and prisoners for those organisations with a statutory role such as the Office of the Inspector of Prisons to ensure continued oversight during the pandemic.

In general terms, in instances where, following an inspection, issues are raised by the Inspector, these are considered by the Prison Service and the corresponding responses from the Prison Service are set out in the Inspector's reports or associated documentation upon publication.

As the Deputy will appreciate, I am keen to ensure the Inspector of Prisons is adequately resourced and to this end, there was an increase in the 2021 budget for the Inspector of Prisons of just over €0.75m, bringing the total 2021 allocation to €1.954m and this has been further increased in the 2022 Budget where the Inspector’s resources increased by a further €0.4m bringing the total allocation to €2.35m.

I can further advise the Deputy that upon her retirement in February the then Inspector of Prisons wrote to me to formally tender her resignation and to outline challenges she faced in carrying out her duties during her tenure. I intend to engage further with the new Inspector upon appointment on these matters, and with the Prison Service itself, in the context of ongoing work to develop the independent prisons oversight and inspection function.