Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am calling for a full investigation into the Irish Prison Service, particularly in the area of bullying and harassment. Some weeks back, I mentioned the case of Sean O'Brien, who was involved in an IRA prison escape in Portlaoise. That man has spent 20 years of his life trying to get information on what happened on that day. He is severely traumatised and the Prison Service is totally unwilling to help him. It is saying that because the Freedom of Information Act did not exist at the time, he will not be getting information. It is outrageous.

A whistleblower working in the Prison Service has come to me now. He tells me of drugs being brought into the prisons to facilitate some of the notorious gangs that are in prison at the moment. He has been shifted from one prison to another because he reported what he saw. He arrived in one of the prisons in Dublin and found horrendous food hygiene. He reported that and he is now being subjected the most horrendous bullying. They are telling him to go home sick and not to come back. I want an investigation into this. I am contacting the Garda today on the drugs issue. I will write to the Health and Safety Authority and the governor of Mountjoy Prison and ask that if anything happens to this man, somebody will be held responsible for it. It is horrendous that somebody is suffering serious health issues as a result of bullying in the workplace. An investigation right through the Prison Service needs to happen urgently.