Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am informed of the issues. The Minister referred to trust. If I was the principal of a secondary school and there was a breakdown and things were not working out, many people would be pointing the finger at the principal, at me. I see no serious willingness in this area. We have met the prisoners, the governor and assistant governors. I do not see an honest engagement from management side in the prison. What we have witnessed in recent years is frightening and it is deteriorating, not improving.

Previously, when we brought up this subject the Minister said that there had been assaults from republican prisoners on prison staff. That did not happen and the prison governor confirmed it. There have been no assaults. The only assaults that have taken place have been on prisoners, not on staff. There have been complaints of verbal disagreements between prisoners and staff, but that is normal even outside prison.

Controlled movement has been condemned and there is no logic in how those responsible are operating. They have disimproved things. There is strip-searching. Individuals who were brought to hospital never left the sight of security forces. They were strip-searched going out and strip-searched coming back, despite the fact that they were handcuffed to security personnel all the time. No one could possible justify it. There is an effort on the part of the management of the prison to humiliate the prisoners. It is illogical. There is a better way to deal with this. I am surprised that the Minister is not forcing the issue and putting pressure on those concerned to see common sense.

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