Irish Prison Service to be set up as standalone State agency with increased responsibility
With Practice Will The Said Best This Irish Prison In Service In Bring Line Governance Helen Mcentee
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) is to be set up as a standalone State agency with increased independence and responsibility, under new plans.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said the statutory body will have a duty to reduce the rate of reoffending among inmates released from prison.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) in Sligo, the minister said that she intends to bring her proposals to government for approval.
Officials will then begin the process of drafting legislation which will go through the usual examination process in the Oireachtas.
Ms McEntee said this will bring governance in the Irish Prison Service in line with best practice and will be a clear recognition of the central role played by the service in the overall criminal justice system.
She said the current legal status of the IPS was a division of the Department of Justice.
She said that while it operates as a de facto agency on a day-to-day basis – with a budget of €400m - it does not have its own accounting officer.
Under the proposals, the IPS will have a statutory duty to reduce the rate of re-offending and the minister said this was part of the Government’s plan to build safe communities and ensure people have a right to feel and be safe in their area.
Ms McEntee said the new body will have a non-executive oversight board as set out in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.
She told delegates that the changes will transform the governance of the Prison Service, by strengthening its identity and stability and provide it with dedicated expert support in the board.
She said that once government approval is received, the General Scheme of the Irish Prison Service Bill will be prepared as quickly as possible.
Department officials will consult with the POA and other bodies as part of the drafting process.
The POA has highlighted issues of violence and overcrowding at the conference, as well as concerns over pay and the law around restraining difficult inmates.
Officers said that 35 prisoners slept on mattresses on floors in Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin one night this week, almost 10% of the prison population with four being placed in three person cells.
The POA said overcrowding was still an issue in Cork Prison and the Dochas Women’s Prison in Dublin. This, it said, was fuelling tension and violence.
It said that additional courts in Croke Park in Dublin, in Drogheda, Mullingar and in Castlebar, had led to more people being sent to jail.
Assistant General Secretary Gabriel Keaveney said the necessary additional resources need to be allocated immediately and urged the reopening of the Mountjoy Training Unit to house additional prisoners.
He called for new regulations on controlling and restraining violent inmates.
Mr Keaveney said an officer who abided by the manual on restraint was subsequently charged with assault and although acquitted in court, the POA said the judge found the regulations had no basis in law.
He said that if prison officers were not legally protected, they would refuse to operate the control and restraint manual and in future call gardaí to deal with violent inmates.