Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister is aware, a group of Members of the Oireachtas has been visiting Maghaberry Prison over recent years. The most recent visit was on last Monday week when we met both loyalist and republican prisoners. We have met the Prisoner Ombudsman and the head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service. We have met the Minister for Justice, David Ford, MLA, on several occasions, the most recent of which was last Monday. We have continually stressed that we are looking at the human rights issues regarding these prisoners. We are not endorsing, have never endorsed and never will endorse any act of violence. We also make the point made by the Minister about threats. However, there are ongoing human rights issues regarding full body searching; controlled movement; the care and supervision unit, which is the segregation unit; and revoking licence on the basis of closed information. There are also issues relating to health care and education and acknowledged infiltration by MI5.

There have been reviews, reports and inspections since 2003, including the Steele report and the Owers report mentioned by the Minister. There have been several reports from the Prisoner Ombudsman and now we have the stock take. The point is that there is a lack of urgency regarding implementing any of those recommendations. The same recommendations have been made continually. The murder of David Black is most regrettable, should never have happened and has been condemned. However, the lack of urgency in implementing recommendations is not helping the situation.

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