Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There was a really shocking report in today's Irish Examinernewspaper that stated a complaint has been lodged with the Irish Prison Service by a female solicitor, who was instructed by a male prison officer in Clover Hill to remove her underwear if she wanted to visit her client because the underwire in her bra had set off the metal detector. The woman concerned has described how she felt extremely vulnerable and targeted as a woman, and how she felt humiliated to have her dignity so casually taken from her. So many things are wrong with this incident and, indeed, the Irish Prison Service's response to it. In my view, this is not just a run-of-the-mill complaint to be dealt with solely within normal procedures. It warrants a wider, and very full, review of prison culture and practices to ensure this type of degrading treatment of any woman never happens again. It was also reported that the woman in question later discovered a male colleague had previously visited the same client and despite the male colleague setting off the alarm three times, he was able to visit his client without any similar request being made of him. Does the Taoiseach know if the Minister for Justice has received a report from the Irish Prison Service on this complaint? What action has she taken to ensure policies and procedures are in place across all prison services to ensure no woman faces such degrading treatment ever again?

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