308. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on the progression of the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill; if he will consider extending remit of the Bill to health and social care settings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53928/26]

Ireland ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 2002 and signed the Optional Protocol to the convention (OPCAT) in 2007.

The OPCAT obliges signatory states to establish a system of inspections of all places where persons can be detained, to be carried out by inspection bodies to be known as National Preventive Mechanisms.

My Department is currently working with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to draft the legislation needed to enable ratification – the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill. This is a commitment in the 2025 Programme for Government and the intention is to publish the Bill in the coming months. This work is well advanced.

The legislation will provide for the designation of a single National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to visit and inspect all places of detention in the Justice Sector and for Government Ministers in other sectors to appoint appropriate NPMs for places of detention that fall  within their remit, which may include health and social care settings.

The existing post of Inspector of Prisons will be replaced by a new post of Chief Inspector of Places of Detention to take on the role of NPM for the Justice sector, to include prisons, Garda stations, the courts and vehicles used by the Irish Prison Service and Gardaí for the purpose of transporting people in their custody.

This means that the new Chief Inspector will have a mandate to monitor a person’s entire journey through detention, from the point of being placed in a Garda vehicle, through to their time in a cell (Garda and court), on remand and, if sentenced, into a term of imprisonment.

The OPCAT will be ratified after the legislation is passed by the Oireachtas.