Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Department of Justice and Equality

Prisoner Welfare

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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628. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the action she will take regarding the long hours of lock up time of 18-19 hours at Limerick women's prison in view of the fact that the time allocated to educational activity is seriously curtailed by this extensive lock up policy. [29165/14]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Irish Prison Service that the out of cell time in Limerick women's prison are similar to that of the male prison in Limerick. Following unlock for breakfast at 8.00 a.m. prisoners return to their cell for a brief period before they are unlocked to attend work/education and recreation at 9.00 a.m.. They remain unlocked until 12.45 where they are returned to their cell before being unlocked again at 14.00 to further attend work/education and recreation. They remain unlocked until 16.45. Following another short period of lock up prisoners are unlocked at 17.25 for work and recreation. Prison is locked down for the night at 19.30.

The development of prisoner programmes forms a central part of the Irish Prison Service three year strategic plan 2012 - 2015. There is a clear commitment in the strategy to enhance sentence planning through Integrated Sentence Management and the delivery of prison based rehabilitative programmes such as education, work training and resettlement programmes. On 6 March 2014 the IPS published a Women’s Strategy entitled "An Effective Response to Women Who Offend". The Women’s Strategy sets out how the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service will work together, as well as with other statutory, community and voluntary sector partners, to provide women focused interventions to help reduce offending, improve opportunities for reintegration and to improve outcomes more generally. This co-operative approach is a direct result of the Joint Strategy published last year which aims to deliver more effective offender management.

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