Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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327. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of unpublished chaplaincy reports from Irish prisons that are outstanding in each of the years 2019 to 2022 and to date in 2023; if he will provide a schedule by prison location that the unpublished reports originates from; and if he will outline for the reasons for not publishing the reports. [5976/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Prison Service Chaplaincy Service has a significant contribution to make as part of the multi-disciplinary team in a prison, addressing the physical, social and spiritual needs of prisoners in a holistic way.

Each Chaplain is required under Rule 119(1) of the Prison Rules to submit a report to the Director General and to the Governor on matters relating to the provision of chaplaincy services in the preceding year. I can confirm there are no outstanding unpublished Chaplain Annual Reports for 2019 and 2020 and they are available on the Irish Prison Service website – Information Centre – General Publications – Chaplains Reports.

I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that draft Chaplain Reports for 2021 are currently being finalised and that it is normal practice that chaplaincy reports from each prison are published at the same time.

I am also advised that the Irish Prison Service expects to publish the 2021 Chaplains reports shortly on their website and that the 2022 Chaplain reports, when they are received later in the year, will also be published as a group on the Irish Prison Service website.