Thurles Information

Department of Justice funding will help the service to become available across Ireland.

Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee, will today announce funding of €300,000 for a crime prevention service which helps protect property from being stolen.

Property marking is a process where a physical mark is etched onto a piece of property such as a bike, laptop or tools.

The mark is made by a specially-designed machine which embosses the property item with small dots in the pattern of the owner’s Eircode – to make it harder for criminals to sell on stolen property.

Property Marking Ireland is a newly established company which has been set up to roll out a property marking crime prevention programme throughout the country.

Property Marking Ireland (PMI) is the trading name of Community Services Network (CSN). CSN is a not-for-profit social enterprise with no shareholders. All funds raised by Property Marking Ireland will be used for the provision of the service and any profits made will be used to improve or expand the service provided.

PMI has developed links with local authorities (through the Joint Policing Committees) as well as community groups (such as Men’s Sheds, IFA, Community Alert and Neighbourhood Watch).

The Department of Justice has agreed to provide grant funding to the scheme for a period of four years, after which it is envisaged the scheme will become self-financing. The grant totals €300,000 over four years, subject to annual progress reports from PMI which demonstrate satisfactory progress.

The indicative funding is as follows:

• Year 1, 2022 – €70,000
• Year 2, 2023 – €100,000
• Year 3, 2024 – €80,000
• Year 4, 2025 – €50,000

Speaking about the funding, Minister McEntee said: “Preventing crime does not just mean putting extra Gardaí on the beat.
Property marking can act as an effective deterrent to property theft. This funding from the Department will mean that the service will eventually be available across Ireland.

Every piece of property marked is another that criminals will find harder to sell on, if stolen. Every piece of property marked is another that Gardaí can reunite with the rightful owner in the event that it is stolen and recovered. PMI, the service provider for the scheme, work with An Garda Síochána to raise awareness of the service.

The scheme aligns with crime reduction and community safety strategies such as the Rural Safety Plan.

This is another important step towards combatting criminals and ensuring people feel safe within their communities”.

• Implementation plan jointly produced by Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána to ensure the highest standards of integrity in An Garda Síochána.
• Builds upon significant work already undertaken by Garda Anti-Corruption Unit.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, today secured Government approval to publish a detailed implementation plan to address the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate’s report on ‘Countering the Threat of Internal Corruption’, which was published in March 2021.

The purpose of this inspection by the Garda Inspectorate was to examine the effectiveness of An Garda Síochána at preventing, detecting and mitigating the threat of internal corruption.

The Inspectorate’s report contained 34 recommendations, 3 of which were directed at the Department of Justice, 1 at the Department of Transport and 30 at An Garda Síochána.

The report made recommendations around strengthening anti-corruption measures and improving safeguards, including in the areas of:

• Professional boundaries
• The abuse of power for sexual gain
• Conflicts of interest/business interests
• Substance testing
• Vetting
• Discontinued court cases
• Operation of the statutory exemption from fixed charge penalties in emergency situations.

The implementation plan, which contains actions to address each of the 34 recommendations contained in the report, has been jointly prepared by the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána.

Speaking on the publication of the implementation plan, Minister Mrs McEntee said: “The vast majority of Garda members serve the organisation and the State with integrity each and every day of their careers. The unique nature of policing means it is one which is open to the threat of corruption. An Garda Síochána is not alone in this and this report will help ensure that An Garda Síochána has the appropriate structures and measures in place to guard against that threat.

Any wrongdoing or corruption within policing damages the integrity and morale of officers and staff alike and undermines public confidence in police services.

The Inspectorate’s report and our associated implementation plan will help ensure the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour within An Garda Síochána. It is also imperative that we develop a greater shared understanding of the threat of corruption across the broader Criminal Justice sector, and I welcome the work by my Department in that regard.”

As outlined in the implementation plan, significant progress has already been made by the new Garda Anti-Corruption Unit on addressing a number of the recommendations, and clear timelines have been set out for those that are outstanding.

Completed actions to date include the publication by An Garda Síochána of an overarching Anti-Corruption Policy, the Professional Boundaries and Abuse of Power for Sexual Gain Policy, as well as the Substance Misuse (Controlled Drugs) Policy. While most of the recommendations are aimed at An Garda Síochána, the implementation of some recommendations also require the involvement of the Department of Justice, especially in relation to legislation.

Noting work already done by An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice to counter corruption in An Garda Síochána, Minister McEntee continued: “Significant work has been undertaken by An Garda Síochána to counter corruption in the organisation, and to develop a culture where it safe and encouraged to speak up if you are aware of corruption or wrongdoing.

Clear policies and procedures are in place for reporting and dealing with wrongdoing; professionalism and integrity is taught and promoted right from training in Templemore for new recruits through to each and every rank and grade in An Garda Síochána.

To support the Commissioner in this work, we have enacted legislation to enable testing of personnel for controlled drugs in An Garda Síochána and my officials are working on supporting legislation to bring this into effect.

My Department will continue to work closely with An Garda Síochána and the Policing Authority to ensure targets are being met and recommendations are implemented in accordance with this plan”.

The Garda Inspectorate’s report ‘Countering the Threat of Internal Corruption’ can be found HERE.

The implementation plan published today can be found HERE.

The year 2021 was the first year in which prison inspections were carried out in accordance with the new ‘Inspection Framework for Prisons in Ireland’, published by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons in 2020.

In response to the pandemic, and the need to monitor the situation within prisons for both prisoners and staff; the Inspector suspended her general inspection programme in 2021 and embarked on a COVID-19 focused inspection schedule, designed to provide a human rights-based assessment of the response of the Prison Service to the pandemic, with all 12 Irish prisons inspected in 2021.

Welcoming the report, Minister Mrs Helen McEntee TD said, “The Inspector’s Annual Report for 2021 sets out the excellent work which was achieved during the year in maintaining necessary oversight of Ireland’s prisons.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected plans for in-depth inspections of individual prisons. Instead the Inspector carried out an overall inspection across all prisons of the Prison Service’s response to the pandemic. The Inspector of Prisons’ reports of these inspections recognised the good work done by the Prison Service during the pandemic and pointed to ways the response could be improved.

The Prison Service’s constructive engagement with these issues and the resulting adaptation of their approach to COVID-19 is evidence of the benefit of strong independent oversight and its value to our prisons”.

The Inspector embarked on an inspection of all prisons in Ireland in 2021. These inspections, whilst short in duration due to the situation with COVID-19, examined the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons across the Framework focus areas which are:-

• Safety and Security
• Respect and Dignity
• Health and Wellbeing
• Rehabilitation and Development
• Resettlement

The Inspectorate also developed a COVID-19 staff survey, to assess the experience of prison staff working in prisons in 2021, and engaged in ongoing discussion with prison management and the Prison Service to provide robust inspections of all prisons in Ireland. The inspection reports, and the COVID-19 Staff Survey report, have all been published and can be found on the websites of the Department of Justice and the Inspector of Prisons.

Another key aspect of the Inspector of Prisons role is the carrying out of independent investigations, at the Minister’s request, into all deaths in custody. In relation to ‘Death in Custody’ investigations, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons submitted 18 reports to the Minister in 2021, reducing its investigation backlog by 66.7%.

The Minister continued, “Oversight and evaluation are very important elements in developing and improving our penal system and the work of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons is an essential aspect of monitoring the situation in our prisons. Their work is a key component in identifying ways we can do things better”.

In the Annual Report, the Inspector of Prisons notes some concerns in relation to the delay in the ratification of the Optional Protocol of the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
Significant progress has been made in addressing these concerns over the course of 2022 – the General Scheme of the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill, which was approved by Government in June 2022, has now been published. The Minister’s objective is to have the final Bill published as soon as possible, so that it may proceed to enactment without undue delay, and allow for ratification of OPCAT in 2023.

The Inspector also noted concerns regarding the prisoner complaints system. Work is underway on drafting new Prison Rules and on preparation for the establishment of a new complaints system within the Irish Prison Service. While implementation has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, significant preparatory work for the introduction of the new system has been advanced, including staff training, the development of an integrated IT system to support case handling and a draft policy for complaints handling. Engagement is ongoing with the Office of Parliamentary Council with a view to completing work on the required Statutory Instrument, and with relevant stakeholders, including the Office of the Ombudsman in preparation for its future operation.

The Minister concluded by saying, “I want to finish by welcoming Mr Mark Kelly, our new Inspector of Prisons. I am sure his wealth of experience will be a great asset, as he undertakes this important role. I would also like to thank former Inspector of Prisons Ms Patricia Gilheaney, latter who retired in February of this year and Mr Mark Toland who served as interim Inspector, pending the appointment of the new Inspector of Prisons”.

The new Inspector of Prisons, Mr Mark Kelly added, “This annual report is testament to the resilience of the Inspectorate’s team, which inspected every prison in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are actively monitoring the implementation of the recommendations in those inspection reports. I fully endorse my predecessor’s comments about the need for a root and branch review of the prisoner complaints system and swift ratification of the OPCAT. I am encouraged by the attention being given by the Minister to these concerns”.

The Report is available in English to read HERE, and in Irish to read HERE: