Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
899. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Justice the total number of prisoners under 21 years of age; the number in each institution in which they are held; the number of such prisoners who are on restricted regimes; the number of hours, each day, such prisoners are confined to their cells; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14763/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has taken steps to bring the Irish prison system into line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as ‘Mandela Rules’) in respect of solitary confinement. This included the introduction of Statutory Instrument (SI) 276 of 2017 which amended Rule 27 of the Prison Rules 2007 and which provides a statutory entitlement to people in custody of a minimum of two hours out-of-cell time daily.
As such, all people in custody have a right to a minimum of 2 hours out of their cell with an opportunity for meaningful human contact. This Irish Prison Service Policy on the Elimination of Solitary Confinement, which is publicly available on their website, implements this SI. The Prison Rules 2007 also provide that the imposition of a restricted regime be closely monitored by the Irish Prison Service and the status of each prisoner on restricted regime within the prison system is regularly reviewed.
As of 16 January 2024, there were 4,748 people in the custody of the Irish Prison Service. Of that, 758 people were subject to a restricted regime.
As the Deputy may be aware, there are a number of reasons for the restriction of a person’s regime while in custody and of the 758 people on a restricted regime -
• 732 were restricted on grounds of protection/vulnerability (Rule 63), of which 687 were there at their own request,
• 22 were restricted on grounds of order (Rule 62),
• 1 was restricted due to medical reasons (Rule 64), and
• 3 were restricted due to infection control measures introduced (i.e. Isolation and Quarantine (Rule 103)).
In relation to the additional information sought by the Deputy, I can advise that the statistics requested are provided in the tables below.
Table 1 outlines the total number of people in custody who were under 21 years of age on 16 January 2024 and Table 2 outlines the total number of people aged under 21 years who were held on restricted regime classified by hours in cell as of 16 January 2024.
Table 1
|
Establishment |
18 year olds |
19 year olds |
20 year olds |
Total |
|
Arbour Hill Prison |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Castlerea Prison |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
|
Cloverhill Remand Prison |
12 |
9 |
11 |
32 |
|
Cork Prison |
3 |
2 |
11 |
16 |
|
Limerick Prison (Female) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Limerick Prison (Male) |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
Loughan House |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Midlands Prison |
5 |
12 |
7 |
24 |
|
Mountjoy Prison (Female) |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Mountjoy Prison (Male) |
1 |
3 |
12 |
16 |
|
Wheatfield Prison |
2 |
4 |
11 |
17 |
|
Grand Total |
28 |
39 |
67 |
134 |
Table 2
|
|
19 hrs in cell |
20 hrs in cell |
21 hrs in cell |
22 hrs in cell |
23 hrs in cell |
24 hrs in cell |
Grand Total |
|
Institution |
Age 18-20 |
Age 18-20 |
Age 18-20 |
Age 18-20 |
Age 18-20 |
Age 18-20 |
|
|
Arbour Hill |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Castlerea |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Cloverhill |
7 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
|
Cork |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Limerick Female |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Limerick Male |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Loughan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Midlands |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mountjoy Female |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mountjoy Male |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Portlaoise |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Shelton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Training Unit |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Wheatfield |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Total |
11 |
2 |
6 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
