Ms Pauline McCabe:

Were the Deputy to read my death in custody reports, in which I have visited this theme many times, he would find I have stated publicly, more times than I can count, that I absolutely and totally believe that nothing is achieved. Members should bear in mind while the position is improving all the time, in prisons in Northern Ireland we have had a situation in which people have been locked up for long periods - I believe you have experienced the same problem at times - when it has nothing to do with punishment but pertains to the absence of proper regimes, purposeful activity and everything else. I refer to a situation in which it is a way of life that people are locked up for long periods and not something that is just used as a punishment. The Deputy may have read my report on Allyn Baxter, which I published last year. He was a young man who died in Hydebank Wood Prison and who, following committal, had been locked up for 23 hours a day. I unequivocally explained exactly what were the consequences of those kinds of lock-downs. We have made this a public issue and it now is at the heart of the prison reform programme and is utterly recognised in respect of policies and procedures for dealing with vulnerable prisoners. However, we have a long way to go.