I move that the Bill be read a second time.
I am pleased to present the Prisons Bill 2015 to this House on behalf of
the Minister for Justice and Equality. Minister Fitzgerald is unavoidably
detained on other important business.
The main purpose of the Bill is to facilitate the complete closing of St
Patrick’s Institution. The Bill will repeal statutory provisions that
enable the courts to order the detention of offenders under the age of 21
in St Patrick’s Institution and will also delete references to St Patrick’s
Institution from the statute book.
St Patrick’s Institution was originally established in Clonmel early in the
last century as a Borstal Institution for young male offenders. It was
transferred to its present site adjacent to Mountjoy Prison in 1956. The
Criminal Justice Act 1960, which gave St Patrick’s Institution its
statutory title, made provision for the sentencing of offenders aged 16 to
20 years to detention in that Institution.
The detention of children in St Patrick’s Institution has been the subject
of consistent criticism for many years. The report of the Committee of
Inquiry into the Penal System under the chairmanship of Dr T.K. Whitaker in
1985 noted that:
“The dominant features of St Patrick’s for the majority of those
contained there are boredom and demoralisation.”
That report recommended the closing of St Patrick’s Institution as soon as
possible, stating that:
“Rehabilitation is not possible where the physical and environmental
conditions are such as to nullify any personal developmental
programmes. The facilities and services which a human and morally
acceptable detention centre should provide for juveniles could not be
provided even in a renovated St. Patrick’s.”
The former Inspector of Prisons, Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen, described St
Patrick’s Institution in his Annual Report for 2004 and 2005 as a
“finishing school for bullying and developing criminal skills”.
The detention of children in St Patrick’s Institution has been criticised
by the Ombudsman for Children, the United Nations Committee on the Rights
of the Child, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Committee on
Social Rights and by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
In addition, organisations such as the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the
Children’s Rights Alliance have called for the detention of children in St
Patrick’s to be ended.
The Programme for Government 2011-2016 included a commitment to end the
practice of sending children to St Patrick’s Institution. Very significant
progress has been made by the Government in fulfilling the Programme for
Government commitment.
Responsibility for 16 year old males remanded in custody or sentenced to
detention was transferred from the Irish Prison Service to the children
detention schools at Oberstown in May 2012.
The €56 million development of National Children Detention Facilities at
Oberstown is almost complete. This development will increase the number of
children detention places available on the campus to enable the transfer of
responsibility for all children remanded in custody or sentenced to
detention from the Irish Prison Service to the children detention schools.
In 2012, the Inspector of Prisons, Judge Michael Reilly, presented an
Inspection Report on St Patrick’s Institution which raised serious issues
and major concerns. The Inspector reported that a combination of, among
other things, weak management, the culture in the prison, inattention to
human rights norms, prisoners on protection and the prevalence of drugs
meant that St Patrick’s had not lived up to the mission statement of the
Irish Prison Service. The Inspector concluded that there was a culture in
St Patrick's Institution that resulted in the human rights of some
prisoners - children and young adults - being either ignored or violated.
In his Annual Report for 2012, the Inspector of Prisons acknowledged the
efforts made by prison management to deal with the issues previously
identified regarding St Patrick’s and the improvements made. However, in
follow-up inspections undertaken in March 2013, he found disturbing
incidents of non-compliance with best practice and breaches of the
fundamental rights of prisoners.
The Inspector reported that despite the best efforts of management, the
culture in St Patrick’s had not changed and the safe and secure custody of
young offenders detained there could no longer be guaranteed. He
recommended that the facility should be closed, prisoners dispersed to
other institutions, existing staff dispersed likewise and the name St
Patrick’s consigned to history.
In line with the recommendations of the Inspector of Prisons and in order
to effect the changes necessary in regime and culture and to ensure safe
and secure custody, the Government decided in July 2013 to close St
Patrick’s Institution completely.
As an interim step, arrangements were made for sentenced 17 year old males
to be transferred shortly after committal to St Patrick’s Institution to a
dedicated unit in Wheatfield Place of Detention. This is an interim measure
until they can be accommodated in the new children detention facilities at
Oberstown. Males aged 18 to 20 sentenced to detention are detained in a
separate unit in Wheatfield.
Subsequently, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs made the
necessary orders under the Children Act 2001 to transfer responsibility for
newly-remanded 17 year old males to Oberstown from 30 March 2015. However,
for legal reasons, it has been necessary to retain St Patrick’s Institution
on a contingency basis for remands awaiting places in Oberstown. The courts
have on occasion remanded 16 and 17 year olds to St Patrick’s for short
periods until places in Oberstown become available.
These children cannot be transferred to Wheatfield because section 88 of
the Children Act 2001, which provides for the remand of children in
custody, does not permit the transfer of remanded children from St
Patrick’s Institution to a place of detention.
The Children (Amendment) Act 2015, for which the Minister for Children and
Youth Affairs is responsible, was enacted earlier this year. When
operational, this Act will enable the full transfer of responsibility for
children in detention to the children detention schools. The Act provides
for the repeal of all legislative provisions which permit the detention of
children in adult prison facilities.
The relevant provisions of the Children (Amendment) Act cannot be commenced
until Oberstown is ready to receive sentenced persons aged 17. This will
not be possible until sufficient additional staff have been recruited.
While the Irish Youth Justice Service has experienced difficulty with
recruitment, the necessary staff are expected to be in place early in 2016.
Two partial closing orders under section 2 of the Prisons Act 1933 have
been made in relation to St Patrick’s Institution. However, it will be
necessary for the Prisons Bill to be enacted before St Patrick’s can be
completely closed. When closed, the intention is that the St Patrick’s
buildings will be designated as part of Mountjoy Male Prison.
The Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Children and
Youth Affairs will give particular attention to the need to co-ordinate the
commencement of the relevant provisions of the Children (Amendment) Act
2015 and the Prisons Bill, when enacted.
I will now outline the main provisions of the Bill.
Part 1 of the Bill contains standard preliminary and general provisions.
Section 3 provides for the repeal of certain enactments relating to St
Patrick’s Institution. The provisions to be repealed mostly relate to court
powers to commit offenders under the age of 21 to detention in St
Patrick’s.
These repeals will have the effect of ending the separate categorisation of
males aged 18 to 20 for the purposes of sentencing. Where a custodial
sentence is imposed on such a person, he will be committed to his local
committal prison and can subsequently be transferred onwards, where
appropriate, to another prison or place of detention.
This section also contains a transitional provision to ensure the continued
lawfulness of the detention of persons previously sentenced to detention
under the repealed provisions.
Part 2 of the Bill will enable St Patrick’s Institution to be completely
closed.
The main provision in this Part is section 6, which provides for the
complete closing of St Patrick’s Institution by Ministerial order.
The section also contains transitional provisions to deal with warrants for
the committal or remand of persons to St Patrick’s Institution which remain
unexecuted on the date St Patrick’s is closed.
The section provides that, following the closing of St Patrick’s
Institution, any outstanding warrants that refer to St Patrick’s as the
place of committal or remand can be executed in a specified prison. In
addition, provision is made for persons on temporary release from St
Patrick’s Institution on the date of its closing.
Part 3 of the Bill provides for the removal of references to St Patrick’s
Institution from the Statute Book. These provisions, contained in sections
7 to 22 of the Bill, are technical drafting amendments which are
consequential on the closing of St Patrick’s and do not otherwise affect
the provisions concerned.
I might mention that it is proposed to retain the references to St
Patrick’s Institution in a small number of legislative provisions in order
to avoid unintended consequences for the operation of those provisions.
Part 4 of the Bill deals with issues that have emerged regarding the
closing of prisons.
The transfer of detainees aged 17 and in the 18 to 20 age group out of St
Patrick’s Institution required Wheatfield Prison to be closed as a prison
and re-opened as a place of detention. However, the existence of unexecuted
warrants directing the committal of persons specifically to Wheatfield
Prison meant that it could not be completely closed as a prison.
An interim solution was implemented to deal with this issue. Wheatfield
Prison was closed with the exception of the gatehouse, which in law remains
open as a prison. This means that persons can be brought there on foot of
committal warrants which specify Wheatfield Prison before being immediately
transferred elsewhere in the prison system. The main part of Wheatfield
Prison that was closed was re-opened as Wheatfield Place of Detention.
Section 23 of the Bill will amend section 2 of the Prisons Act 1933, which
provides that the Minister for Justice and Equality may make a closing
order directing the closing of a prison or part of a prison.
The amendments have two purposes. The first is to provide that, following
the closing of a prison, any outstanding warrants that refer to that prison
as the place of committal can be executed in another specified prison. The
second purpose is to address the situation of persons on temporary release
from a prison which has been closed.
These amendments will deal with the current situation regarding Wheatfield
and also any future prison closures.
In conclusion, we are all aware that the path from St Patrick’s Institution
to Mountjoy Prison has been too well worn over the years. We must interrupt
the predictable path of violence and crime and repeat offending progressing
to further serious offending and committals in adult prisons.
This Government’s unprecedented programme of reform in closing St Patrick’s
Institution and developing National Children Detention Facilities at
Oberstown will allow young people who are sentenced to detention to be
placed in a secure environment that will offer them a better chance – in
the words of the Children Act 2001 – “to take their place in the community
as persons who observe the law and are capable of making a positive and
productive contribution to society”.
It is now a matter of when – and not if – there will be a final end to the
practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities.
I hope that the Prisons Bill will be passed by the Dáil and Seanad quickly,
so that St Patrick’s Institution will finally be consigned to history at
the earliest possible date.
I commend the Bill to the House.