Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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178. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 511 of 26 May 2015, in which she stated that prisoners were not kept locked up for longer than the agreed hours, her views on claims in relation to the Midlands Prison, where prisoners who are supposed to be let out for exercise each evening from 5:20 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. are actually unlocked at 5:30 p.m. and re-locked back at 7:20 p.m., and similarly are regularly locked back in for their breakfast, for almost an hour every day, when the actual time should be half an hour. [24352/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I refer to my reply to Question No. 511 on 26 May 2015 in which I advised the Deputy that there is no practice in place of prisoners not being released from their cells at the appropriate time in the morning, and going into lock-up earlier in the evenings.

I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that here are occasions when, for various reasons, delays in moving prisoners to schools, workshops etc, do occur. However these issues are managed locally in the prisons and prison management make every effort to ensure that such occurrences are kept to a minimum.

With reference to the average day for a prisoner in Midlands Prison I can inform the Deputy that the daily timetable for the prison is as follows:

I can also advise the Deputy that a robust complaints procedure is now in place in the Irish Prison Service and that on receipt of a complaint from a prisoner, the Irish Prison Service will ensure that it is fully investigated.