Eoin Ó Broin
Question:1097. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Justice when she expects prison visits to resume as part of the exit from level 5 of the Living with Covid-19 Plan. [30543/21]
View answerTuesday, 15 June 2021
Questions (1097)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, all physical family visits to prisons have been suspended since 26th December 2020, following the country-wide move to level 5 of the National Framework for Living with Covid-19 and in line with the Irish Prison Service Framework for Restrictive Measures.
The Irish Prison Service is currently developing a new Framework for the Unwinding of Prison Restrictions which is informed by the recent Government Plan for reopening our society, set out in Resilience and Recovery: The Path Ahead.
The new Framework for Unwinding Prison Restrictions, which will be published later this month by the Irish Prison Service, will set out a phased unwinding of the restrictions that were introduced to prevent the possible spread of Covid-19 into our prisons. The plan for the resumption of physical visits will be included in the Framework.
The unwinding of prison restrictions and the resumption of physical visits is a priority for the Irish Prison Service, however, it is subject to a number of critical factors including:
- The need to maintain infection control measures;
- The roll out of the prison vaccination programme for both prisoners and staff;
- The roll out of the community vaccination programme;
- The availability of staff resources to facilitate the resumptions of physical family visits while continuing to resource the operation of Covid-19 posts including infection control and increased Courts activity.
It is likely that all visitors will continue to be subject to the Covid-19 screening procedures which have been in place since March 2020 and visitors will be requested not to attend if they have any Covid-19 symptoms, have been in contact with a person who has gone for testing, if they themselves have tested positive for Covid-19 and have yet to be cleared by their doctor, or if they have been abroad in the preceding fortnight.
Details on the procedures and arrangements will be announced by the Irish Prison Service in advance of the return of physical visits.
In the interim, the Irish Prison Service is acutely aware of the need for prisoners to maintain contact with their families and the new video visit system which was introduced in 2020 continues to allow families to maintain contact with those in custody.
The video call system has proven very successful and I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that when physical visits recommence, they will also retain the option of video calls for prisoners.