Responsibility for running the prison service is to be transferred from the Department of Justice to a semi-independent Prisons Authority, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has announced.
The Prisons Authority, which will be set up next year, will be under the control of a director general. It will be responsible for administering the £150 million prisons budget.
There will also be an inspector of prisons appointed to ensure prisoners are treated fairly. The Government is to set up a Parole Board to review long-tariff and life- sentenced prisoners.
The proposals follow almost two years' work by senior Department of Justice staff who have been recommending for a number of years that the job of running the prisons should be removed from Justice to a new authority.
Announcing the decision yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said the proposals "amount to the most fundamental reform of the Prison Service since the State was founded." He added: "They are innovative measures which, as well as adding new momentum to the Prison Service, also mark the beginning of a new approach to the management of offenders."
The Minister announced that the Interim Board to oversee the transition of powers from the Department to the new Authority is to be chaired by Mr Brian McCarthy, chairman of the financial services company, FEXCO.
The interim board will draw up new management and administrative guidelines; oversee the transition of powers from the Department of Justice to the new Authority; draw up a strategy statement and business plan; and plan budgets and key objectives for the Prison Service.
Control of the service will be transferred to a director general, who is expected to be appointed in the New Year. The director will remain accountable to the Minister "for all functions delegated to him or her", yesterday's statement read.
The new inspector of prisons' role will be to report to the Minister on the "general state" of prisons. A new Parole Board will replace the Sentence Review Group which reviews the cases of offenders who have served more than seven years.
It has been recognised for a number of years that the Department of Justice had become overburdened with responsibilities, particularly in the administration of prisons and courts.
The incident last year when a Departmental error led to the failure to ratify judges' positions, with the potential effect of making judges' decisions null and void, led to the political decision to proceed with the setting up of a courts authority.
Much of the Government's decisions were among recommendations made by a Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System, under the chairmanship of Dr Ken Whitaker, which reported to government in July 1985.
The Whitaker report recommended a formal procedure for the review of long or indeterminate sentences.
Recommending a Prisons Board and director, Whitaker acknowledged that "for security reasons, the Minister judges it necessary to reserve powers and functions to himself".
In his statement yesterday, the Minister said that while he and the Department of Justice "will be relieved of the need to be involved in the day-to-day operation of the service, the Minister will, of course, continue to be politically accountable for the prison system."
Whitaker also said the post of director "should be one of high status, equivalent at least to assistant secretary". This is to be the case and applications for the post of director are expected from suitably qualified prison governors and senior civil servants.