Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue. As Deputy O'Sullivan has outlined, this is a very important human rights issue on the island of Ireland that we need to address. Many Members have been quick to raise issues in Tibet, China and elsewhere, but we need to be cognisant of what is happening on our own island to Irish citizens.

There is an agreement in Maghaberry between the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and the prisoners that will resolve the protests that have been going on there for the last few years, but the Northern Ireland Prison Service refuses to implement that agreement. This means that the conditions under the prisoners have to live are continuing. I impress on the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, the need to make forceful representations to the Minister for Justice in the Six Counties, and to the Northern Ireland Prison Service, to ensure that this agreement is implemented so that the protest can be ended and the prisoners can complete their sentences in some sort of dignity.

I also wish to raise the specific case of Brian Shivers, who is currently being held in Maghaberry as well, awaiting appeal for a conviction that he received a few months ago. Mr. Shivers suffers from cystic fibrosis and he is 46 years old. Life expectancy in the UK for sufferers of cystic fibrosis is 39 years, so he has already exceeded that. He has been denied medical treatment in Maghaberry Prison for the last six weeks by the Northern Ireland Prison Service. The service has refused to give him his medication so he can alleviate his condition, and it is a very serious issue for an Irish citizen to be held in those conditions. There is correspondence from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, which has agreed to offer training to prison staff to administer his medication in a proper manner, but this has not been availed of to date.

I wrote to the Tánaiste on 20 April in relation to this issue but, as yet, I have not even received an acknowledgment from him. It is vitally important that these matters be brought up forcefully. On human rights grounds, prisoners should be treated with respect and dignity.

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