Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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293. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to ensure Ireland’s prison system complies fully with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), particularly regarding the use of solitary confinement, access to healthcare, contact with the outside world and access to rehabilitation supports; and if he will commit to publishing an audit of current compliance levels and a timeline for achieving full alignment with these international standards. [36740/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to assure the Deputy that in relation to conditions of detention for all prisoners, either physical or regime, the Irish Prison Service strives to conform to international standards including those instruments set out by the United Nations as a minimum. Where possible, the Irish Prison Service endeavours to exceed these standards and, where deficiencies are identified, they ensure appropriate action is taken to address them.

Among the specific steps taken to bring the Irish prison system into line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as ‘Mandela Rules’) are measures related to solitary confinement. This includes the introduction of Statutory Instrument 276 of 2017 which amended Rule 27 of the Prison Rules 2007 and provides for prisoners to be allowed to spend a minimum period of 2 hours out of his or her cell daily.

This Statutory Instrument is operationalised through the Irish Prison Service Policy on the Elimination of Solitary Confinement, which is publicly available on their website.

I would like to advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service collate statistics regarding prisoners on a restricted regime are collated, that are published on their website (www.irishprisons.ie). This information can be found in the Information Centre under Statistics & Information, Census Reports.

In relation to access to healthcare, the provision of healthcare services is a statutory obligation of the Irish Prison Service as defined in the Prison Rules 2007. IPS policy provides that healthcare services that are equivalent to those made available to citizens in the general community, in line with arrangements for medical card holders under the General Medical Services Scheme are available to prisoners.

To support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending and assist with reintegration into society, people in custody have access to a growing range of medical and rehabilitative services. These include methadone substitution treatment, counselling, psychological intervention, peer to peer support programmes, psycho-education and the Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme provided by Merchants Quay Ireland, available in the Medical Unit in Mountjoy Prison.

Treatment provided to people in prison who may be struggling with addiction is in line with the provisions of the following: National Drug Strategy; the Irish Prison Service Drugs Strategy 2023-2026; the Irish Prison Service Health Needs Assessment and the High Level Task Force on the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system. The Irish Prison Service also works closely with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who provide support to people in custody across the prison estate.

Interventions that support prisoners to address addiction and rehabilitation require engagement and action, including follow up access to services on release, which is supported by cross-departmental and cross-agency strategies. My Department is committed to implementing a range of policies to achieve this. The Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform includes the increased use of alternatives to custodial sanctions, while the recommendations of the High Level Taskforce consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector. Additionally, the Irish Prison Service Health Needs Assessment makes recommendations around strengthening and improving healthcare services within prisons.