Vol. 468 No. 4
672 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice her Department's response to the recommendations of the 1995 Visiting Committee for full implementation of the guidelines on padded cells in the Five Year Management of Offender's Report; if she will respond to the committee's expressed concern at the ambivalence in relation to the conditions for restraint in padded cells; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15803/96]
The Governor of Mountjoy prison has already pointed out publicly the urgent practical necessity of putting prisoners in a place of safety where they are not a danger to themselves or others when they start being difficult in prison. I do not accept there is any ambivalence in this matter. The guidelines in place for the use of padded cells require all such placements to be reported to the Department of Justice. They also require the early involvement of a prison doctor where a stay in a padded cell goes on any longer than overnight. It is simply not practical to call out the doctor every single time the padded cell has to be used, day or night. On many occasions it has to be used at the prisoner's request.
