Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Oct 1992

Vol. 424 No. 5

Written Answers. - Prison Sentence.

Tony Gregory

Question:

80 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Justice if a person (details supplied) is the only long term prisoner in Limerick Womens' Prison; the amount of her sentence served to date in isolation; if her cell is amongst the smallest in the prison system, with no sanitation, obliging her to "slop out"; if she has access to the prison school, CERT courses, and craft shops; if she can work in the kitchen, laundry or trades; if she is generally confined to a very small area in a tiny wing; if she has been refused family visits via Mountjoy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Roger T. Garland

Question:

82 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) who is currently serving a ten year sentence in Limerick Prison; his views on whether the conditions under which she is serving her sentence are humane and whether certain rights are being denied to her; if he intends to arrange for her transfer to more suitable accommodation; and the reason, in spite of several letters to him from Deputy Garland, and several standard acknowledgments, over the last eleven months, Deputy Garland has not received a reply to his queries.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Flynn)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 82 together.

The female prisoner to whom the Deputy refers was sentenced to four concurrent ten years sentences for armed robbery and firearms offences. She is one of a very few long term female prisoners in the prison system and is, at present, the only long term prisoner in Limerick Female Prison. However, at no stage since her incarceration has she served any portion of her sentence in isolation.

The cell she occupies is one of twelve cells in the female section of the prison and is similar in dimension to other cells in Limerick Prison.

At present about 40 per cent of the prison population have either in-cell sanitation or 24-hour access to sanitary facilities and it is planned to extend this on a phased basis. Limerick prison does not at the present time have in-cell sanitation. However, female prisoners in Limerick have access to out-of-cell toilet facilities up to 10 p.m.

She has access to a range of education, recreation and craft facilities and is, in fact, at present pursuing a university level course. Work in the kitchens, laundry and trades areas is not available to female prisoners as these are located in the male section of the prison.

In order to facilitate continued contact with her family I recently approved an arrangement under which this prisoner would be brought to Mountjoy four times a year to meet her family. The first such visit took place in Mountjoy Prison on 21 October, 1992.

The conditions under which the prisoner is detained and the accommodation available to her in the female prison in Limerick are the same as those which apply to all prisoners detained there. There are no plans at present to transfer her.

A reply has recently issued to the correspondence from Deputy Garland.