Irish Penal Reform Trust

Lobbying Organisation Irish Penal Reform Trust

Date published 21 May, 2024

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Justice and Equality

Period 1 Jan, 2024 to 30 Apr, 2024

Specific Details Meeting with Deputy Neasa Hourigan to discuss penal reform priorities.

Intended results To secure support from the Deputy for IPRT's key penal reform priorities and developments in penal reform generally - in the context of political party manifestos being in preparation at this time.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Helen Kehoe, Legal and Public Affairs Manager

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Virtual Meeting (1)

IPRT's Legal & Public Affairs Manager, Helen Kehoe, met Deputy Neasa Hourigan on 16 April (online), to discuss penal reform priorities such as: the penal consultative council (the need to establish this), ratification of OPCAT, the prison education taskforce, the issue of women in prison, spent convictions and the need for legislation, and statistics re prison populations (re overcrowding, use of short sentences and homelessness).

Email (1)

Follow up email - to provide more information on key matters discussed during meeting and to flag IPRT's concerns in more detail - sent by Helen Kehoe on 16 April to Deputy Hourigan.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Neasa Hourigan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)