Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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153. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had contact with the authorities in Great Britain or Northern Ireland about the conditions in the segregated wing of HMP Magheraberry and the need to urgently implement fully the agreement arrived at in Roe House in 2010; the result of these discussions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48271/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the Deputy’s ongoing concerns about the accommodation situation for prisoners in Maghaberry Prison.

The management of the prison is a matter for the Northern Ireland Prison Service, an agency of the Department of Justice at Stormont. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s day-to-day role is limited to adjudicating on prisoners' access to the separated regime which separates paramilitary prisoners from the rest of the prison population, as well as loyalist prisoners from republican prisoners.

As the Deputy knows, the Stocktake of the 2010 agreement between the NI Prison Service and the prisoners in the separated regime at Maghaberry was published in November 2014. It made a number of recommendations to be implemented within a period of six months. At the time, the Government’s strong view was that the full implementation of the Stocktake report offered an opportunity to create a conflict-free environment in the prison. This view was conveyed to the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms. Theresa Villiers MP, to the then Minister of Justice in the Stormont Executive, Mr. David Ford MLA, and to their officials.

My officials at the Belfast Secretariat continue to engage on an ongoing basis with a range of parties including the Northern Ireland Office, the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC), and others to discuss, explore and encourage progress. In recent months, officials from the Belfast Secretariat have met with members of the Education and training provision review for separated prisoners. In addition, a senior official from the Secretariat recently met the governor of Maghaberry and discussed a range of issues.

Officials remain in contact with the Criminal Justice Inspectorate for Northern Ireland whose most recent report on conditions in the prison, issued in August 2017, noted that health and educational provision is improving and that levels of disorder and violence were generally low. That report also found that there were still significant challenges around the separated regime, and officials have continued to monitor developments.

In seeking satisfactory outcomes in Maghaberry, the cooperation of both the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the prisoners themselves is required. I would encourage all with influence to move forward in the right spirit. The restoration of the Executive at Stormont and the appointment of a new Northern Ireland Minister for Justice would also be of great assistance in addressing the issues facing Northern Irish prisons.