Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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293. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of recorded incidents in which control and restraint techniques were used by the Irish Prison Service in 2016; and the number of such incidents per prison. [32280/17]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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294. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidents that the Irish Prison Service managed to deescalate through conflict resolution techniques or restorative practices in 2016; and the number of such incidents per prison. [32281/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 293 and 294 together.

De-escalation techniques play a significant part in the control and restraint training for prison staff and are deployed on a daily basis throughout the prison estate.

It is impossible to quantify the number of incidents the Irish Prison Service manage to de-escalate. Many incidents are resolved at different levels, where de-escalation techniques are used. These vary from officers on the landings on a personal level, to planned incidents involving control & restraint teams.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the number of recorded incidents where a Control and Restraint team was deployed in 2016 is set out in the following table.

As part of a control & restraint team a staff member, with a video recording camera, records footage of the event. The majority of the incidents in which a control & restraint teams was deployed did not require the physical removal of the prisoner.