Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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636. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the changes made by the Irish Prison Service since 2010 to ensure full compliance with the Bangkok Rules; and when a review was last carried out to ensure this was the case.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9213/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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While the Bangkok Rules, adopted by the United Nations in 2010, are the first international instrument to provide guidelines on responding to the gender specific needs of women in the criminal justice system, the Irish Prison Service has long been conscious of the particular needs of women in the prison system. The IPS recognises women as a particularly vulnerable group with very different needs to male offenders and is working constantly to address those needs, including by reference to the Bangkok Rules.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Dóchas Centre is the principal location for the accommodation of female prisoners in the State. The ethos under which Dóchas operates is that the women live together in a community-style setting, accommodated in houses rather than cell block. The regime focuses on training and rehabilitation, including access to mental health services, psychology service and addiction counsellors.

My officials in the Irish Prison Service report that communal dining is available to women prisoners in certain areas in Limerick Prison but that prisoners are permitted to dine in by themselves or with their cell mate. In the Dóchas Centre the women are accommodated in houses rather than cell blocks and most prefer to dine in their houses and rather than communally.

The new specially designed accommodation block for women offenders in Limerick, which will replace the use of the female wing at that prisons, is expected to be completed and become operational in the latter half of this year. The design of the new facility is centred on the principle of rehabilitation and normalisation, reflecting contemporary design standards. A mix of accommodation units is being provided based around an external courtyard setting and the development will provide accommodation for 50 female prisoners.

I understand that staff working with women in prison are provided with specialist training and in February 2020 the Prison Service introduced a new tailored programme for staff to address the special needs of women prisoners. To enhance the rehabilitative opportunities, a new programme called the Outlook Programme, which is a step down unit for women offenders, was opened in 2019 in partnership with the Probation Service. The project is managed by Focus Ireland and the vision of the programme is to promote the rehabilitation and re-integration of women leaving prison, in particular those who have accommodation needs requiring support in the community.

Privacy is afforded to all prisoners for various activities, where appropriate, including phone calls and contact with their children. The Prison Service is acutely aware of the importance of assisting prisoners to maintain close contact with their children while in custody. The Deputy will be aware that in order to protect the prison population from the risk of Covid-19, a number of infection control measures were introduced throughout 2020 and 2021. Regrettably, this included the suspension of physical visits to prisoners for extended periods of time.

The Deputy will be aware that following a short two week suspension physical visits recommenced in all prisons on Monday 24 January and prisoners are entitled to receive one physical visit per fortnight. In addition, from 14 February the number of persons permitted to visit a prisoner increased to three persons, of whom two may be a child (under 18 years of age). Visits will continue to be subject to infection control measures including the wearing of face masks.

The Prison Service introduced a new video visit system to ensure that prisoners could continue to have visual contact with their families throughout this time.

Limerick Prison has a Tusla approved and award winning visitors area and the Prison Service work closely with care workers, the courts and Tusla to provide access visits where appropriate.