Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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292. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Irish Prison Service is committed to introducing measures to reduce the number of prisoners held on restricted regimes and ensure that as a minimum standard all receive three hours per day out-of-cell time. [37335/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Prison Service is committed to reducing the number of prisoners held on restricted regimes and ensuring that each prisoner on restricted regime receives as much out-of-cell time as possible.

I am advised that the Director General of the Irish Prison Service chairs a high-level group to examine measures which can be introduced to reduce the number of prisoners held on restricted regimes. This has involved intensive work in each prison over a prolonged period.

In 2013, in support of this work, the Irish Prison Service commenced the collation of a quarterly Census of Restricted Regime Prisoners. Since the commencement of the survey, which is published on the Irish Prison Service website, the number of prisoners on 22/23 hour restricted regime has decreased by 176 or 83% from 211 to 35.

In addition, in June 2017, I amended Rule 27 of the Prison Rules 2007, by signing into law, Statutory Instrument 276 of 2017. The purpose of this amendment was to provide a statutory entitlement to prisoners for a minimum of two hours out-of-cell time, daily. The means by which this Statutory Instrument is implemented is contained within the Irish Prison Service Policy on the Elimination of Solitary Confinement, which is available on their website (www.irishprisons.ie).