26th January 2024
IPRT welcomes the publication by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) Inspection Report Oversight Monitoring Visit During COVID-19 Pandemic Mountjoy Female Prison (Dóchas Centre) 2020 and supporting action plan (25 January 2024).
The report, detailing findings from on-site monitoring that took place at the Dóchas Centre across three days in April and May 2020, has now been published almost four years after the monitoring took place.
Critical issues outlined in the report include overcrowded conditions in the prison; the use of restricted regimes on people with severe mental health issues, and that the current prisoner complaints system is not fit for purpose.
Saoirse Brady, IPRT Executive Director said:
After almost four years of IPRT calling for the withheld Dóchas Centre inspection reports to be made public, the publication of this COVID-19 inspection report by the Minister is welcome. While sections of the report remain redacted and pieces of the puzzle remain unsolved, the publication of the independent inspection report is important from a transparency perspective.
Given that issues identified in this initial report published last night were serious enough to warrant the Minister to ask the Inspector of Prisons to conduct a further investigation into a ‘matter arising out of the management or operation of a prison’, until we see the publication of the subsequent reports, we cannot be sure that the issues identified have been properly resolved.
We can only assume that the reacted sections of this COVID-19 report are what triggered the concern and subsequent inspections to take place. Years on we are still left in the dark as to what the cause of alarm was about, or if the issues have been addressed in any way.
Regrettably, the Minister has indicated that the two investigation reports that followed will remain unpublished on foot of legal advice but without these - even in a redacted or summary form – serious questions remain unanswered.
Reports like this COVID-19 report shine a light on important issues that mostly take place behind locked doors. The delay in the publication of the COVID-19 report and failure to publish the subsequent reports strengthens the case for the proposed Inspectorate of Places of Detention to publish their own reports in the future. The relevant legislation to do this should be published and passed without further delay.
Complaints
Saoirse Brady, IPRT Executive Director said:
“This report also reaffirms what was previously reported about the prison complaints process – it is simply not fit for purpose. Notably, women stated they were afraid of the negative consequences they may experience if they made complaints.
People detained in a closed environment in prison are at increased risk of human rights violations. Having an independent complaints process would be an important safeguard against this happening. But despite numerous recommendations over many decades for people in prison to have access to this long-promised reform, there remains no recourse for prisoners to directly make or appeal a complaint to an external body.
A well-functioning and effective complaints investigation process has never been more important with record numbers of people in prison and conditions deteriorating. The final steps to review the Prison Rules and establish a new complaints process must be taken as a matter of urgency.
Overcrowding and mental health
Saoirse Brady, IPRT Executive Director said:
The report flags an increase in the prison’s capacity without changing the building’s footprint. It’s very concerning to see a jump in the number of beds in a building that isn’t designed to have that many people in it. When the Dóchas Centre was built at Mountjoy over 20 years ago, like the new Limerick Women’s Prison, there was a focus on the state-of-the-art prison design but we’re now seeing record numbers and the capacity being increased without a reciprocal increase in resources for the supporting infrastructure to truly support women in prison .
The solution is not expanding the prison footprint or increasing the number of beds in cells. The report refers to the high number of women in prison on short sentences and the need to look at alternatives to prison especially since the OIP indicates that there is a gender dimension to the types of offences that women are imprisoned for. The necessity of sending some of these women to prison in the first place needs to be questioned and a discussion around greater use of community-based sanctions and the provision of essential supports including healthcare and stable housing is warranted. In those cases where a custodial sentence is deemed absolutely necessary, an open facility to help women reintegrate back into the communities should be the focus.
It was harrowing to read in the report that women with severe mental health difficulties were placed on restricted regimes for not complying with Covid-19 restrictions and subsequently were admitted to psychiatric care. Prison should not be the first port of call for people with severe mental health issues and diversion from prison with access to appropriate treatment and supports should be the default.
IPRT reiterates its call to the Minister to publish the remaining two withheld Dóchas inspection reports and to publish the Inspection of Detention Bill without delay. Failure to communicate in detail the reasons for non-publication and to continue to withhold inspection reports ties into bigger issues with accountability and transparency in our penal system.
ENDS
For all media enquiries, or to arrange an interview with Saoirse Brady, IPRT Executive Director, please contact Michelle Byrne, IPRT Communications Officer on:
M: +353 86 043 3060 E: communications@iprt.ie W: www.iprt.ie
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) | www.iprt.ie
IPRT is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of everyone in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy, with prison as a last resort.
Prison figures:
As of today, 26 January 2024, there are 4,742 people in prison custody, with an occupancy rate of 105% of total capacity. Mountjoy Female Prison, the Dóchas Centre, has 164 people in custody, at 112% of total capacity.
3. Inspection report: Inspection Report Oversight Monitoring Visit During COVID-19 Pandemic Mountjoy Female Prison (Dóchas Centre) 2020
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.