Under rule 78 of the 1947 Rules for the Government of Prisons, the governor may have "a refractory or violent prisoner detained in a cladded-padded cell for his-her own protection." Similarly, the prison doctor may authorise the detention of an offender in the cladded-padded cell for medical observation or for the offenders own protection if he-she has suicidal tendencies. Obviously, while undesirable, it is a matter of practical necessity to put some prisoners in a place of safety within the prison system when they prove difficult to manage in the general prison population. Padded cells are sometimes used in such instances as they provide a secure, safe place where prisoners can remain under special observation with minimal opportunity to cause damage to themselves or to other prisoners.
Prisoners may be confined to such cells as may be approved by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, but only on the authority of the governor or other officer in charge, and for as short a period as necessary. The guidelines in place for the use of padded cells require all such placements to be reported to Prisons Service headquarters and the early involvement of the prison doctor where a stay in the padded cell has to be used. It should also be noted that, on many occasions, placement in a padded cell is at the prisoner's own request.
The document "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" which was published earlier this year by the Irish Penal Reform Trust – IPRT – called for the elimination of the use of padded cells within the prison system and I would like to make a few observations on this report. The finding in the report that 78% of prisoners placed in padded cells are suffering from mental illness is apparently based exclusively on the comments and observations in prison registers of the use of such cells. Most of these entries, which are brief and situation-related, are made by prison officers who would not have a professional qualification in the area of assessing or diagnosing mental illness. The classification by the trust's report of such cases as "mental illness" is, to say the least, unscientific. The decision as to whether a prisoner is in need of treatment for a psychiatric disorder is a matter for the medical personnel in our penal institutions. Such a decision can only be taken following medical assessment and diagnosis.
I am also informed that the IPRT document does not differentiate between strip cell usage and padded cell usage. Padded cells are used for the protection of the prisoner, as opposed to disciplinary or good order purposes. The IPRT document does not make this clear and, instead, gives the impression that punishment is the routine rationale for such use.