Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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392. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of attacks by prison inmates on prison officers in prisons from 1 January 2013 to 2016 to date; the nature of injuries sustained in the attacks; the duration of time the prison officer spent out of work as a result of the attack; the details of compensation paid out to injured prison officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6211/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that the number of recorded assaults on prison officers by prisoners for 2013 to date are as outlined in the table below:

*Figures for 2015/2016 are produced by State Claims Agency from information input on the National Incident Management System (NIMS). They include the number of persons involved in an incident in 2015/2016 where the incident was categorised as either Physical Assault or Physical Harassment.

It is not possible to provide the Deputy with the nature of the injuries from the assaults, as this information is personal medical information to the officers concerned.

The amount of time spent out of work as a result of these assaults is not readily available. However it is currently being complied and will be forward to the Deputy as soon as it is to hand.

Details of compensation paid in relation to the recorded assaults is a matter for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted on Prison Officers. Awards under this scheme are made directly to prison officers by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal (CICT) which is a non-statutory agency of the Department of Justice and Equality and is independent of the Minister in its decision making.

The amount of compensation paid to prison officers during the years requested is included in the table below. This figure includes, but is not solely restricted to, compensation paid as a result of an assault by a prisoner. It should be noted that the injury or injuries which gave rise to these claims are likely to have occurred in the preceding years.

Details of compensation payments made under this scheme for 2015/2016 will be available when the Appropriations Account for 2015/2016 are published. Claims for compensation can also be made though the Courts separate to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal.

Every assault on a member of staff, is treated as serious and appropriate action is taken by the Prison Service, including the reporting of such assaults to an Garda Síochána for the purposes of investigation and criminal prosecution where appropriate. No level of inter prisoner violence is acceptable and every effort is made by prison staff and management to limit the scope of acts of violence. However no regime can completely eliminate the possibility of violent incidents happening in a prison setting where a large number of dangerous and violent offenders are being held.

The Irish Prison Service has successfully introduced a number of measures across the prison estate such as hand-held metal detectors, netting over prison yards, boss chairs and security screening machines to detect and prevent weapons from entering the prison to limit the scope of acts of violence. In addition, new prisoner programmes have been introduced such as the Incentivised Regimes policy which provides for a differentiation of privileges between prisoners according to their level of engagement with services and quality of behaviour. The objective is to provide tangible incentives to prisoners to participate in structured activities and to reinforce good behaviour, leading to a safer and more secure environment.

The Irish Prison Service will continue to review procedures and progress on an ongoing basis, in order to ensure and improve staff safety.