Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 March 2021
669. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of prison staff and prisoners, respectively, who have tested positive for Covid-19 since March 2020 to date in 2021, by prison; the number who required hospitalisation; and the procedures that are in place for when a prisoner is required to stay in hospital due to Covid-19. [11426/21]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Prison Service that as of 1 March 2021, there have been 97 confirmed prisoner cases of Covid-19 in our prisons. Of these cases, 44 were community based infections, which were detected during the committal testing process.
The Deputy will also be aware that since October 2020 there have been 9 confirmed Covid-19 outbreaks within our prisons resulting in 53 confirmed Covid-19 cases among the general prison population
To date, no prisoners have been hospitalised with Covid-19.
I have been informed by the Irish Prison Service that there are 26 prisoners across the estate currently being treated for Covid-19.
A breakdown of cases per location since September 2020 is set out in Table 1.
Table 1. Record of prisoners as per prison as of 1 March 2021
|
Prison |
Nos. |
|
Dochas |
1 |
|
Cloverhill |
19 |
|
Mountjoy |
4 |
|
Midlands |
22 |
|
Limerick |
11 |
|
Castlerea |
1 |
|
Loughan |
9 |
|
Wheatfield |
11 |
|
Shelton |
1 |
|
Portlaoise |
3 |
|
Cork |
2 |
|
Arbour Hill |
13 |
|
Total |
97 |
The Irish Prison Service has further advised that for operational and confidentiality reasons they cannot provide a breakdown of cases reported by staff members by prison, but have advised that since March 2020 a total of 312 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported by staff members.
