Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The reason for that is nothing to do with the prison staff. It is to do with young people being members of gangs and being afraid of other members of other gangs. This is a problem within the prison estate dealing with those in their late teens and early 20s in the context of gangs engaged in criminality. Some of these are engaged in violent criminality and the drugs trade where real rivalries exist. Some entering prison make the request that they be treated in the manner as stated by the Deputy. It is not as a result of a disciplinary problem that someone is placed in such a prison cell; it is because they fear for their safety upon admittance to the prison. This is something which must be catered for and it is part and parcel of the difficulties that arise from young people engaged in serious criminality or in a rivalry that produces substantial violence. Such violence translates itself from open society and communities to the prison system. That is the primary reason for the difficulty the Deputy described.

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