Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 4

Written Answers. - Prison Deaths.

Dan Neville

Question:

111 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the details of incidents of suicide, attempted suicide, self-harm and drug overdose in prisons and juvenile detention centres here over the past five years; and the breakdown per institution. [23209/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

The information sought by the Deputy on deaths in prisons and places of detention as a result of suicide or drug overdose is set out in the following table.

However, statistical data on attempted suicides, self-harm and drug overdoses not resulting in death is not readily available and would require extensive searches of individual files and records. Such incidents would also prove difficult to categorise vis-à-vis self harm or attempted suicide as a judgment on intent would be required from the compiler of the statistics.

The National Suicide Research Foundation established the national parasuicide registry in 2000 as a national monitoring system for the occurrence of parasuicide. The National Suicide Research Foundation defines parasuicide as any non-fatal act which an individual deliberately undertakes knowing or believing that it may cause them physical harm or even death. It includes acts involving varying levels of suicidal intent including definite attempts at suicide and acts where the individual had no intention of dying. The Irish Prison Service agreed with the foundation in 2001 that the registry should include prisons and places of detention in its statistics and the foundation undertook to compile the statistics from records kept within each prison or place of detention.

The foundation has recently informed my Department that they propose to include a chapter on prisons and places of detention in their annual report for 2002 which they expect to publish shortly. In addition, the Irish Prison Service has been moving in recent years towards centralised record systems based on the use of information technology. Considerable progress has already been made in this area and I am informed that further work is under way at present. A number of areas including those the subject of the Deputy's question are under active consideration in this regard.

All deaths in custody are the subject of a Garda investigation and an inquest held in a coroner's court. The cause of death is determined by a jury on the basis of the information presented to the court. The number of deaths which are attributed to suicide are as follows.

In 1999 there was a total of six deaths – Mountjoy (male) Prison, three; Mountjoy (female) Prison, one; Cork Prison, one, Wheatfield Place of Detention, one. In 2000 there was a total of three deaths – Wheatfield Place of Detention, two, Mountjoy (female) Prison, one. In 2001 there was one death at Castlerea Prison. In 2002 there was a total of four deaths – Castlerea Prison, one, Cloverhill Prison, one; Mountjoy (male) Prison, one, Wheatfield Prison, one. To date in 2003, there has been one death at Castlerea Prison.

Inquest verdicts are pending on the 2002 case in Mountjoy Prison and the 2003 case in Castlerea Prison. However, the apparent cause of death would indicate that suicide may have been a possible intention in these cases.

I attach figures for the deaths in prison custody in the instances where the coroner's court verdict indicated that drug overdose was either the sole cause of death or a major contributing factor.

Year/No. of Deaths	Institutions
1999 (Nil)	–
2000 (2)	Mountjoy (male) Prison; Cloverhill Prison.
2001 (2)	Cloverhill Prison; St. Patrick's Institution.
2002 (2)	Cloverhilll Prison; Mountjoy (female) Prison.
2003 – to date – (2)	Limerick Prison; Wheatfield Prison.

Inquests by a coroner have not been held, to date, in respect of the deaths in custody in Mountjoy Prison in 2002 and the deaths in Limerick and Wheatfield Prisons in 2003. However, the apparent cause of death in these cases would indicate that drugs were a contributing factor.