Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister alluded to the Dóchas centre and the recommendation in the prison review report on an open prison centre for female prisoners. This is very important. Shelton Abbey is a step-down facility for male prisoners. While the regime in Dóchas is not as authoritarian or rigid as that in Mountjoy or other centres there are nonetheless long-term prisoners there who should be rehabilitated outside that centre. There are also young drug offenders who would be more appropriately placed in centres such as Tiglin. I would like to hear a more definitive commitment to a step-down prison centre for female prisoners.

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