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

A number of the prisoners we have met have not been convicted of anything because they are in there on very long periods of remand. When we were there in May, there was great hope that the stock take would lead to progress. We were there last Monday week and one of the aspects of that uncontrolled movement had broken down because of the ambiguity between the prisoners and governors. Strip-searching is the most degrading and humiliating exercise for both the prisoner and the prison officer. Portlaoise Prison, which has many dissident republicans and gangland criminals, does not use this type of strip-searching. It uses all the other technology. The Northern Ireland Prison Service says that it tried this technology and it did not work, but was there any independent assessment of how it did not work? There is now faith that there could be an independent chair appointed to the deal with these issues and I ask the Minister to encourage that during his next meetings. Our group is anxious to meet the Minister, and hopefully this can be facilitated before Christmas.

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