Inspector of Prisons: Annual Report 2011

22nd May 2012

The Minister for Justice, Mr. Alan Shatter, has today published the Inspector of Prisons' Annual Report 2011.

The report details the activities of the Inspector during 2011, and makes reference to reports which have been submitted but not yet published by the Minister - including a report on prisoner complaints models (submitted 26th March 2012) - along with investigations which are not yet completed, including a current "forensic investigation" into St Patrick's Institution, which has so far brought "certain disturbing issues" to light, according to the Inspector.

Among the "major issues" that the Inspector commits to addressing in his forthcoming report in response to the publication of the IPS Strategic Plan 2012-2014, are:

• Overcrowding
• Slopping out
• Prison regimes
• Safety Observation Cells
• Close Supervision Cells
• Prisoner complaints
• Healthcare
• Prison discipline
• Deaths in custody
• High support units (HSU) and Low support units (LSU)
• Committal areas
• Drug free areas
• Officer Training for different cohorts of prisoners (juveniles, older prisoners, female prisoners, and mentally ill prisoners)
• Education
• Drugs/contraband in prisons
• Protection Prisoners
• Detention of Juveniles in St. Patrick’s Institution

Access the report here.