Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2022
33. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice the steps she intends taking to tackle overcrowding in our female prisons in Dublin and Limerick; if it is intended to provide an open centre with addiction support services for those for whom such a centre would be more appropriate than a conventional prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60517/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Irish Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed into their custody by the Courts. As such, the Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time, and the prison system is, of course, subject to peaks and troughs. Numbers are particularly high when the courts are at their busiest and following the return to a more normal level of court activity now that Covid restrictions have been lifted, committal numbers have increased across the prison system.
Where the number of prisoners exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, my officials make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured temporary release. Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made.
As the Deputy will be aware the Government has provided significant capital funding to the Irish Prison Service in order to enhance the existing prison infrastructure.
In this regard the new female accommodation in Limerick prison, which will provide 22 additional female spaces, is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2023.
The design of the new facility is based on the principle of rehabilitation and normalisation reflecting contemporary design standards. A mix of accommodation units are being provided based around an external courtyard setting. When open, this new facility will represent a complete change in the standard of accommodation and rehabilitative supports for women prisoners at that facility.
The Irish Prison Service engages Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) to provide a prison-based addiction counselling service in all Prisons, including the Dochas Centre and Limerick Female Prison. This service includes structured assessments and evidence-based counselling interventions, with clearly-defined treatment plans and goals.
The MQI service provides a range of counselling and intervention skills related to substance misuse and dependency. These skills include, motivational interviewing and enhancement therapy, a twelve step facilitation programme, cognitive behavioural therapy and harm reduction approaches. Prisoners are offered one to one counselling and group work interventions.
