Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

I want to focus on two reports, the first being the report of the visiting committee into the Dóchas Centre. Two incidents are cited in the welfare section of that report about which I wish to ask the Minister. The first incident occurred in May of last year. The report states there was an incident where a prisoner was forcibly removed in circumstances which the visiting committee felt were in violation of the prisoner's human rights. The committee went on to state in the report that it has written several letters which have gone unanswered. Can the Minister comment on whether this incident is still under review and, if it is, when he expects an outcome to the investigation?

The second incident relates to the manner in which searches are conducted in the Dóchas Centre. As the Minister is aware, the visiting committee highlighted the manner in which the BOSS chair is used in the prison and in particular made reference to incidents where female prisoners were required to remove clothing in the presence of male officers. A media report attributed to the Minister comments that this was not the case and that male officers were not present. Regardless of whether they were present, the purpose of the BOSS chair is to be non-intrusive. The report uses words such as "unnecessary", "humiliating" and "degrading". Was a formal complaint made by any prisoner about being stripped in front of male officers? If so, when was the complaint made? Is it still under investigation? When did the Minister become aware of it?

I wish to touch briefly on a second issue.

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