Ms Doireann Ansbro:

My thanks to Deputy Murphy for the question. We have been campaigning against spit hoods since their introduction at the end of March. At the time we were told that this was required to protect gardaí from spitting and the transmission of Covid-19. Obviously, we fully support the need for gardaí to have personal protective equipment. However, we find the classification of spit hoods as PEE highly problematic because a spit hood is a full hood that goes over another person's head.

From a human rights perspective, hoods have long been defined as inhuman or degrading treatment. We are concerned that using these kinds of hoods goes clearly against the Garda's human rights obligations. We cannot answer how they were introduced without a human rights impact assessment but we would certainly agree that there should have been such an assessment, and there has not been one.

They are currently being reviewed by the Garda. We have put in a comprehensive submission explaining our human rights concerns around the use of spit hoods. A number of points are important to make. The first is that a manufacturer of spit hoods came out in July and said they do not provide effective protection against Covid-19. That initial justification for introducing them to this jurisdiction is simply not accurate. We have called on the Garda to explain precisely why the force is using them and why it considers they are necessary. If they are being used as a method of restraint, can it be a proportionate use of force? Our view is that given the considerable human rights concerns that their use raises, it would be difficult to justify their use as human-rights compliant. We have been calling for their removal from Garda kit as soon as possible.