The Inspector of Prisons will have more powers to monitor how prison inmates are treated under the new Prisons Bill published this evening.
Michael McDowell: Bill provides a
The proposed legislation, updated from last year, also details strict planning rules for new jails and the possible closure of Mountjoy.
Prisoners will also be subject to mandatory drug testing and can be asked to appear via video link for short court hearings.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said it was another important measure in modernising the system.
"It will facilitate the use of technology to ensure cost-effectiveness in the Irish Prison Service and assist in the process of the building of modern, humane prisons," he said.
"It also provides for the establishment of a statutory office of Inspector of Prisons and for a means of redress for prisoners who feel they have been treated unfairly. I am determined to continue at pace this programme of modernisation to ensure real change in how our prisons are run and in the outcomes being achieved by imprisonment," he added.
Other changes to the way the prison system works, which were outlined in last year's bill, include outsourcing prisoner escort services, charging prisoners for certain optional services and the exclusion of non-commercial work from the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
PA