Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
609. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the status of the implementation of recommendations 2.12 and 2.13 in respect to female prisons and prisoners from the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020. [4738/22]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the construction of the new women's prison forms part of a major redevelopment project currently underway at Limerick Prison. The contract for this project was awarded in February 2019 with the construction element currently anticipated to be completed in the second quarter of this year. This will be followed by the installation and commissioning of the various security and safety systems with the new facility expected to be operational in Q2/Q3 of this year. This timeline assumes no further impact on construction activity or supply chain issues due to the pandemic.
The new women's prison will provide accommodation for 50 female prisoners and is a core element of the redevelopment project.
The design concept for the new women's prison was influenced by best practice in prison design and similar rehabilitation facilities found in Scandinavia and it will have perimeter security features associated with medium level security, as it forms part of the overall prison site.
The women's prison facility will differ in many respects to the current prison, having been designed around the principles of normalisation, progression and rehabilitation, underpinned by a therapeutic environment to support women in prison to reintegrate back into society on completion of their sentence.
A mix of accommodation is being provided comprising bedrooms units, some apartment style units, a mother and baby unit with the accommodation based is around an external landscaped courtyard setting in keeping with the design principles on creating a safe therapeutic space and supportive regime. In addition, the new female prison will also provide improved facilities for families visiting. When commissioned the new facility will represent a sea change in the standard of accommodation and rehabilitative supports for female prisoners.
The Prison Service is acutely aware of the importance of assisting prisoners to maintain close contact with their children while in custody. The Deputy will be aware that in order to protect the prison population from the risk of Covid, a number of infection control measures were introduced. Regrettably, this included the suspension of physical visits to prisoners for extended periods of time. The Prison Service introduced a new video visit system to ensure that prisoners could continue to have visual contact with their families.
Limerick Prison has a Tusla approved and award winning visitors area and the Prison Service work closely with care workers, the courts and Tusla to provide access visits where appropriate.
Among the commitments of the Probation Service/Irish Prison Service Women's joint strategy 2014-2016 was to improve outcomes for women offenders, including to explore the development of an open prison/open conditions for women assessed at a low risk of re-offending. A Joint Probation Service/Irish Prison Service working group, when considering an open centre for women, recommended that a more practical and cost effective way to address the needs identified was to pursue a step down facility. In this regard, the Probation and Prison Service worked collaboratively towards the identification of a suitable venue for a women's step down unit in Dublin, via a public procurement competition with the Office of Government Procurement.
The vision of the Outlook Programme is to promote the rehabilitation and re-integration of women leaving prison and those who have accommodation needs requiring support in the community. The Programme, which is managed by Focus Ireland, opened in May 2019, supports women serving sentences of imprisonment who pose a low risk to society to gradually re-integrate into the community. The women the programme caters for are required to be drug free and have, in general, been convicted of one-off offences. The Programme has capacity for 10 women. 8 spaces at the Outlook Programme at Stanhope Green and 2 apartments - the first apartment has been available since 7 July 2020 and another since 17 May 2021 and to date, 25 women have been supported by the project.
The Abigail Centre is open since December 2014. Two distinct organisations provide accommodation and other related services for women in the Centre. NOVAS Initiatives provide supported temporary accommodation for 40 women in the main block of the building. In a separate but connected unit, called Tús Nua, accommodation is provided for 15 women and is managed by De Paul Ireland. Tús Nua work closely with the Prison and Probation Service to support women offenders to reintegrate into the community on their release from custody. Tús Nua is funded by my Department through the Probation Service.
Criminal Justice Housing First is a homeless assistance approach prioritising access to permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. Persons on community supervision, referred by the Probation Service, and persons in prison, are included within the broader national processes for Housing First. A jointly commissioned three year pilot project, responding to the needs of 'harder to place' prisoners, was initiated in October 2020 in a partnership involving Dublin City Council, Probation Service, Irish Prison Service and my Department. The plan strongly advocates that a cross departmental, cross sectoral approach to the needs of those with high support needs, including women who offend, harnessing the strengths of multiple agencies, is necessary to respond to the needs of this complex group, reduce the risk of homelessness and reduce the person's likelihood of re-offending. Since the pilot programme commenced, 4 women prisoners have been accepted by Housing First.
