Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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878. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to reports (details supplied) that the highest number of prisoners was recently seen in Dóchas prison; her views on whether having 164 prisoners, when the maximum should be between 100 and 110, puts both prisoners and officers at risk; the urgent actions that her Department will take to resolve this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55284/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts and does not have the option of refusing to take prisoners into custody. The numbers in prison is, of course, subject to peaks and troughs.  Numbers are particularly high when the Courts are at their busiest and following the return to a more normal level of Court activity, committal numbers have increased across the prison system. The Deputy may wish to know that there were 5,219 committals to prison for the period January to September 2022 which is a 13% increase on the same period in 2021. 

I am informed by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that the total number of prisoners in custody in the Dóchas Centre on 2 November 2022 was 163 compared with a bed capacity of 146. This represents an occupancy level of 112%. Of the 163, 44 are on remand and 119 are sentenced prisoners.

While increases in prisoner population result in challenges within certain committal prisons, the Irish Prison Service takes all possible steps to alleviate the situation through a combination of inter-prison transfers and other contingency measures.

Officials in the Irish Prison Service work closely with the Governors of affected prisons to alleviate capacity issues, by identifying prisoners who may be suitable for transfer to other prisons or prisoners who may be suitable for structured early release.

The Deputy will also be aware that construction is currently underway in Limerick Prison and this will provide 22 additional female cell spaces. The new accommodation is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2023 assuming there is no further impact on construction activity or supply chain issues due to the pandemic.

Separately, the Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. In respect of delivering on this commitment, I recently published the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024. 

The review seeks to find the balance between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community based sanctions are more appropriate in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity. 

The review also includes as a priority action to develop and expand the range of community based sanctions, including alternatives to imprisonment, and commits as part of this to build on the joint Prison Service / Probation Service strategy “An Effective Response to Women who Offend” and incorporate the Probation Service 2021 “Best Practice Approach” to scope the development and explore the feasibility of a number of actions to work for positive outcomes for women who offend.

Sentencing is a matter solely within the discretion of the trial judge, having regard to the circumstances of the case and of the accused and subject to any limits as may be prescribed by law for a particular offence. While these proposals do not change this, they are intended to strengthen the options available to judges when they are considering cases, to facilitate the effective and efficient use of community sanctions by the courts, and to ensure that the courts have a wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences.

In addition, as part of delivering the Penal Policy action plan, the need to ensure the continued availability of modern prison facilities with adequate capacity will continue to be central to the work of the Irish Prison Service and will be core to the development of the new Irish Prison Service Capital Strategy 2023.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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879. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her views on whether it is discriminatory that there is no open prison for women, as is outlined in reports from the prison inspectorate, visiting committee, IPRT reports, chaplains report, and the Oireachtas Justice Committee; and the action that she will take to resolve this issue and stop the discrimination. [55285/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I know that female offenders represent a particularly vulnerable group within the prison system and I can assure the Deputy that the Prison Service is acutely aware of the challenges that these vulnerable women face. The particular needs of women prisoners is reflected in how our modern prison facilities are developed. 

The Dóchas Centre, which accommodates the majority of female prisoners in Ireland, was purposely built and specifically designed for women.  A particular focus of the design of the prison was to ensure that the women accommodated in the centre had access to a regime that mirrored, as much as possible, living in ordinary accommodation and thus supported the women's reintegration to society, which is a key objective of the prisons system.

Likewise, the new purpose built female prison in Limerick, which will provide accommodation for 50 prisoners and is expected to be operational by the end of this year, has been specifically designed to cater to the needs of female prisoners.  

The design concept was influenced by best practice in prison design and similar rehabilitation facilities internationally. It is designed around the principles of normalisation, progression and rehabilitation, underpinned by a therapeutic environment to support women in prison to reintegrate back into society on completion of their sentence. It includes a mix of accommodation and a mother and baby unit. In addition, it will provide improved facilities for families visiting. 

Consideration was given to the development of an open centre for women by a Joint Probation Service/Irish Prison Service working group. The conclusion of this was that it was more appropriate to develop and use step down facilities for women and this is the approach that has been progressed.  

The Outlook Programme, which promotes the rehabilitation and re-integration of women leaving prison or on Probation Service supervision who have accommodation needs and require structured community supports, is run in joint partnership with the Probation Service and managed by Focus Ireland. It supports women who pose a low risk to society to gradually re-integrate into the community. The Programme opened in May 2019 and to date, 30 women have been supported by the project.

In addition, the Abigail Centre provides accommodation and other related services for women.  NOVAS Initiatives provide supported temporary accommodation for 40 women in the main block of the building.  In a separate but connected unit, called Tús Nua, accommodation is provided for 15 women and is managed by De Paul Ireland.  Tús Nua work closely with the Prison and Probation Service to support women offenders to reintegrate into the community on their release from custody and is funded by my Department through the Probation Service.

Separately, it may interest the Deputy to know that the Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. In respect of delivering on this commitment, I recently published the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024. 

The review seeks to find the balance between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community based sanctions are more appropriate in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity. 

The review also includes a priority action to develop and expand the range of community based sanctions, including alternatives to imprisonment. As part of this it commits to build on the joint Prison Service / Probation Service strategy “An Effective Response to Women who Offend” and incorporate the Probation Service 2021 “Best Practice Approach” to scope the development and explore the feasibility of a number of actions to work for positive outcomes for women who offend.