All deaths in prison custody are for the first time ever to be independently investigated, with the reports into the jail fatalities to be published.
The move by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter will be welcomed by many observers as the creation of a layer of transparency that previous Government’s and senior officials in the Irish Prison Service had never committed to.
Mr Shatter has today announced that the Inspector of Prisons Judge Reilly has been asked to carry out independent investigations into all prison deaths.
Investigations will be carried out whether the prisoner has died of natural causes, been murdered in jail or has died as a result of a drugs overdose or any other issue.
The move comes just weeks after the Northern Ireland Prisoner Ombudsman Pauline McCabe said the lack of independent investigations into deaths in prison custody in the Republic meant the prison system was not learning and reforming following prison deaths.
In an interview with The Irish Times, she also said the absence of independent investigations here and publication of reports on prisoner deaths undermined transparency and meant the serious shortcomings of the prison service were not being publicised.
Announcing the new move today, Mr Shatter said Judge Reilly would not only investigate deaths in custody, but also the deaths of those who had just been freed on temporary release.
He said the deaths in custody inquiries would in no way prejudice the existing investigations carried out by the Garda or in the course of the Coroners’ inquest process.
“Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done,” Mr Shatter said in a statement outlining his plans.
“There can be no questions left unanswered when a person in State custody dies. The independence and track record of the Inspector speaks for itself and I am confident that the Irish Prison Service and other relevant public sector agencies will cooperate with and indeed welcome the Inspector's involvement in this area."
Judge Reilly will add the deaths in custody investigations to his current workload of carrying out inspections of prisons and reviewing penal policy and publishing reports and recommendations on both.
