John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he has taken arising from reports that paramilitary prisoners are engaging in military display and training in Portlaoise Prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21624/09]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on reports of special category status for paramilitary prisoners at Portlaoise Prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21632/09]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the claims made at the recent conference of an association (details supplied) that paramilitary prisoners in Portlaoise maximum security prison enjoy a relaxed regime in which they can hold military style parades, have murals on the wall, and order in food from outside; the reason these prisoners are treated differently from other prisoners in custody; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21472/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 62 and 108 together.

The reports referred to are greatly exaggerated. The correct situation is that paramilitary prisoners are located in the maximum security Portlaoise Prison which, in addition to the usual perimeter security, has armed military presence. Subversive prisoners in Portlaoise Prison have a somewhat different regime from other prisoners due to historical and political reasons. Deputies are aware of many of these reasons and also the inherent danger and inevitable problems that would have ensued if subversive prisoners had been forced to mix with the general prisoner population. Some of the subversive grouping currently located in Portlaoise Prison have had a presence there since the height of the troubles and long before the Good Friday Agreement.

I have asked the Department to consult with the Director General of the Irish Prison Service regarding the appropriateness of the regime applicable to subversive prisoners in the light of developing circumstances.

There are 50 subversive prisoners in Portlaoise Prison. Each of these prisoners is subject to the prison rules and must comply with the instructions of the governor and his staff. For example, cell searches take place when ordered and prisoners on these landings have been disciplined for breaches of the prison rules. Any suggestion that these landings are being run by the prisoners as opposed to the management is not true and there is no "military training" taking place. There is a short ceremony which takes place each Easter, when the various groupings gather in the exercise yard and read out the Proclamation associated with the Easter Rising. The process is supervised by staff at all times. Each evening prior to lock up, the prisoners stand in front of their cells before all entering their cells at the same time. Again this is all done under the supervision of prison staff.

The facility to purchase goods over and above what is available in the tuck shop is not a new concession and has been available to subversive prisoners in Portlaoise Prison since 1973. Anything ordered into the prison is, of course, subject to the normal rules and regulations in place for good order and security such as searching and the items purchased are not paid for by the State. The murals on the walls of the landings have been in place since the late 1970s and 1980s.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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When the Minister says reports of what is happening in the high security wing in Portlaoise Prison are an exaggeration, will he enlighten himself and intervene in this most unsatisfactory situation that is lowering the already low morale of those working in the prison? Where is the exaggeration in a senior republican having four cells to himself? Where is the exaggeration in republican prisoners enjoying what the Minister himself admitted was "a most relaxed prison regime"? There are military style parades on a regular basis and there are murals on the walls that have not been removed by the prison authorities.

Could the Minister confirm that flaps have been placed on closed circuit television cameras to ensure a regime that cannot be observed through the cameras? Will he confirm that visitors to the republican prisoners and convicted drug dealers in the high security wing do not have to undergo the same stringent search regime as those visiting ordinary prisoners using sniffer dogs?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Visitors to republican prisoners are subject to searches similar to other visitors.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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No, they are not.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Prison Service that the same search regimes will be introduced to all prisons in the near future.

The newspaper reports that a particular prisoner in Portlaoise Prison has the use of four cells are a distortion of the facts. He has the same cell as all other prisoners. There are two unoccupied cells on the same landing that are used for craft and education. The reports are incorrect.

Despite comments in the media, much of the discontent in Portlaoise Prison is because of my recent decision to stop any chance of temporary release in the aftermath of the murders of the two British soldiers and the PSNI officer. As a result of that decision, there was a significant ramping up of agitation by prisoners in Portlaoise Prison to the extent that they went on a no wash protest for a number of weeks. That protest ended last week without any concessions.