Irish Penal Reform Trust

Lobbying Organisation Irish Penal Reform Trust

Date published 21 Sep, 2022

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Justice and Equality

Period 1 May, 2022 to 31 Aug, 2022

Specific Details Meeting with Deputy Patrick Costello to discuss penal reform priorities

Intended results Ask for support for key penal reform priorities that IPRT working on

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Molly Joyce, Legal & Public Affairs Manager, and Saoirse Brady, Executive Director

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.

Meeting (1)

IPRT's Executive Director, Saoirse Brady, and Legal & Public Affairs Manager, Molly Joyce, met Deputy Patrick Costello in Leinster House on 17th May 2022 to discuss penal reform priorities such as: the experiences of women in prison; the issue of mental health supports in prison and drug treatment options in prison; accountability in the penal system and upcoming developments incl. the ratification of OPCAT; the impact of COVID in prisons; and the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill.

Email (2-5)

IPRT's Legal & Public Affairs Manager sent a follow up email to Deputy Costello after the meeting to provide more information on key issues arising and to flag certain parliamentary questions (PQs) that may be useful to ask in order to obtain more information.

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.

Patrick Costello TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)