Vol. 523 No. 2
196 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the result of his Department's investigation into the death of a person on remand at the Dóchas Centre on 22 August 2000 following a self inflicted injury on 21 August 2000. [20770/00]
On 21 August 2000 an inmate in the Dóchas Centre – Mountjoy Female Prison – was discovered by an officer in an unconscious state in her room. She appeared to have suffered severe self inflicted injuries caused by a ligature around her neck. Prison staff immediately commenced CPR and did everything possible to revive her until the ambulance service arrived. She was taken to the Mater Hospital where she died the following afternoon.
The deceased was on remand and had not been convicted of any offence. During her short time in the Dóchas Centre she was under the close care of the medical services and particularly the psychiatric services.
In accordance with normal practice, the death will be the subject of a Garda investigation and a public inquiry in the form of a coroner's inquest. The circumstances of the death have been examined by the suicide awareness group in the Dóchas Centre. The purpose of this examination is to identify, where possible, measures which might be taken in the future to contribute to the prevention of tragic deaths of this nature. This is an important mechanism for absorbing the lessons to be learned in each case.
