Three years on from a report aimed at reducing our very high rate of recidivism its recommendations have yet to be implemented, writes Garrett Sheehan.
No Minister for Justice in the history of the State has adequately addressed the issue of penal reform. Indeed it can be fairly argued that one of the ongoing contributory factors to the high level of crime in Ireland has been the persistent failure of the Irish Prison Service and its predecessors to engage in a meaningful way in the rehabilitation of prisoners.
To understand the extent of the problem we need to dwell on the depressing statistic relating to recidivism. Some seven out of every 10 people now in prison will commit further crime on their release and will return to prison.
Can anything be done to alter this shameful statistic?
Is the only answer longer sentences and more prisons?
One way forward is mapped out in the report of the National Economic and Social Forum published in January 2002 entitled Reintegration of Prisoners. The principle recommendation, on which many other proposals depend, is the introduction of a "sentence management plan" for each prisoner to be drawn up in consultation with the prisoner at the beginning of his or her sentence. This plan would seek to address physical and mental health issues as well as putting in place an educational programme.
Although the report received the usual "official" welcome it is now almost three years since these proposals were made and there is no evidence to suggest that the present Minister, Mr McDowell, is willing to address this vital issue.
In recent years there has been much talk about privatisation. In some areas this has been remarkably successful. One lesser known but not insignificant area of privatisation lies surprisingly within the Department of Justice itself.
Realising that its welfare service could not provide either the expert assessment reports on sex offenders required by the courts or the appropriate support services for those on probation it contracted this service out to the Granada Institute - a serious and highly regarded organisation that provides therapeutic services to sex offenders while on bail.
This outsourcing of a specialist service needs to be replicated many times within the prisons. Why not contract the Granada Institute to provide services to those who are serving sentences for sex offences?
While there is obviously a limit to the work the Granada Institute can properly undertake, there are other institutions whose services could be properly enlisted. For example there are a small number of psychoanalysts doing important work in one Dublin prison. Is it too much to hope that more people with this kind of training might be contracted to work within the prison service?
Again while opportunities exist for participating in further education, the reality is that most prisoners need intervention and encouragement to avail of these opportunities. Perhaps some further inducement is appropriate. A foreigner in a French jail who learns the language receives a month off every year of his sentence.
At a conference in Dublin last year, the recently-retired Chief Justice Ronan Keane expressed the view that one of the major causes of crime was absent fathers. This is undoubtedly true. One could go further and say that the absence of proper fathering is probably at the root of most criminal behaviour. This is a serious problem.
Many prisoners are fathers. Unless we facilitate them as far as possible to be good fathers then we are laying the ground for further crime.
This means that a lot more care and attention has to be directed towards family visits. Prison timetables should be adjusted to ensure that family visits take place in decent conditions and according to need.
If this requires prisons to remain open till 8 p.m. seven days a week then so be it. Our Constitution is clear about the importance of the family unit.
A further matter that needs careful consideration is the treatment of foreigners in our prisons. Non-nationals comprise an ever-increasing percentage of the Irish prison population and their needs are often complex. Sometimes they have language difficulties. A very special effort needs to be made with these men and women to ensure at the very least that they have the same opportunities for growth and development as Irish prisoners.
Only some of the necessary changes advocated by the National Economic and Social Forum have been mentioned in this article. However it is important to emphasise that the penal reforms necessary to bring about a much greater chance of true rehabilitation need not be costly if properly focused.
Equally in the context of the annual prison budget the sums required would probably go unnoticed. However, to bring about these changes requires serious political will and a little imagination. Mr McDowell has already initiated significant reform of the criminal justice system.
The missing piece is the prisons. Leaving aside the question of the rights of prisoners and their families, leaving aside the constitutional duty to support the family unit, were the Minister to properly implement these reforms not only would there be economic advantages to the State as a result of a lower rate of recidivism but Ireland would also be a safer place.
• Garrett Sheehan is a solicitor