COMMENT: There is progress in our Prisons

For most people, prisons are probably places neither considered nor cared about. But the ability to ignore them is not a luxury afforded to those of us who live in and around Portlaoise.

To us, prisons matter. After all, our particular prison bestrides our streets, defines our town, and employs our people. It is a huge part of what we are.

That’s why I believe we should both pay attention to, and welcome, the Annual Reports of the Irish Prison and Probation Services. Launched yesterday, they both point to continuing progress in the fight to make Ireland fairer and safer.

I am proud of the Irish Prison Service and of those who work in it.

So much has been achieved in recent years - in areas such as sentence management, rehabilitation and re-integration – as well as in incentivising prisoners to participate and engage with the many opportunities that are open to them.

The prison system exists of course to keep us all safe. And not just by keeping offenders inside. It must also keep a constant eye on what happens next, on what can be provided inside a prison to make an offender less likely to offend, less of a threat, when discharged. That is why, for all our safety, a concentration on prisoner well-being is really important, even as we acknowledge that prisons are extremely challenging.

Managing prisoners can be complex. The nature of an offence or factors such as feuds or gangland violence, mean that there will always be a need to segregate certain prisoners. It isn’t easy for prison staff to manage this on a daily basis. But our management and staff always strive to balance the need for safe secure custody with the provision of regimes that promote rehabilitation and reintegration.

And I believe this year’s reports point to real progress in those areas as well as to considerable improvements in accommodation.

We have almost eliminated slopping out. It is still an issue here in Portlaoise but Mountjoy Prison has been completely refurbished with in-cell sanitation installed in all cells. There have been other structural improvements throughout the service too - a new prison was constructed and opened in Cork in 2016 and a procurement competition for the development of new prison facilities for both men and women at Limerick is at an advanced stage with construction expected to commence before the end of this year.

I am particularly happy to see that St. Patrick’s Institution has finally closed. Its demise means that children are no longer accommodated within the adult system and I know that in tandem with the closure, targeted measures are being taken to rehabilitate young offenders and promote their effective and safe transition from custody to community.

That that transition would be safe is hugely important to all of us of course, which is why I welcome the figures in the Reports on temporary release.

They show the numbers have been reduced by 70% with prisoners now only granted temporary release if it is to structured release programmes. They report too, the welcome news that the Community Return Programme and the Community Support Scheme have continued to be a success due to the careful selection of prisoners. And consideration is currently being given, we’re told, to broadening the eligibility criteria for these schemes.

At the other end of the prison population meanwhile, are those subjected to solitary confinement. This can sometimes be necessary, but the action taken by the Irish Prison Service towards eliminating it for all but a few exceptional cases has had a huge impact on the lives of those prisoners.

So things are improving, as they should be, for our prisoners.

For those of us living in Portlaoise however, it is just as important that they should improve too, for staff.

That is why I so welcome the points made in the Report about valuing, recognising and investing in staff.

I know it is happening through additional recruitment and in training and development, I know a major refurbishment of the IPS College in Portlaoise, nearing completion, will enhance the learning experience of all and I know that additions such as counselling services and mental health training will ensure that staff are supported.

I hope each and every one of them feels appreciated too – as I know they are – as they continue to go about the valuable and difficult work they do, for which we are all so very grateful.