On page 86 of the programme for Government there is a commitment to having a Prison Service that provides secure custody. On 23 October 2020, a civilian entered the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise in the company of a senior official and was identified as an Irish Prison Service, IPS, official. That person was signed in at the gate as an IPS official. The person entered the search area and I am informed was identified a number of times as an IPS official. That person interviewed and spoke with members of the operational security group in the prison on the understanding that the person in question was an official of the IPS. That person left the Midlands Prison and entered the maximum security prison next door, Portlaoise Prison, where the process was repeated.

The rules are very clear in this regard. On 8 November 2020, the Minister for Justice and her office was informed of the incident and gave assurances that an examination would happen. The IPS was also notified by way of its chief Ms Karen McCaffrey. An acting Minister for Justice was also notified. The IPS indicated after investigation that there was no veracity to these allegations and at no stage was the visitor introduced as an IPS official.

We do not have the time to spend the day on this.

I have a copy of the signature given at the gate lodge.

The Deputy is way over the allowed time.

This matter has not been examined properly and it is serious. The Taoiseach should be in no doubt about that.

This is not an appropriate way in which to raise this matter.

I ask the Taoiseach to examine the matter and revert to me about it.

I do not know what the Taoiseach is expected to say about that.

I do not know either. There must be processes to deal with these types of matters. The Parliament cannot investigate every single transgression.

The rules were broken.

There should be proper systems in place within the Prison Service or externally to investigate such matters properly and appropriately. I will speak to the Minister for Justice about the point raised.

Yesterday's response was false.