Reactions: Inspector of Prisons' Annual Report for 2013-14

10th October 2014

The Minister for Justice & Equality published the Inspector of Prisons' Annual Report for 2013-2014 on 9th Oct 2014. The report acknowledges progress in many areas, including the reduction of overcrowding, progress towards provision of single-cell accommodation where requested across the system, and more.

However, serious matters of concern were also identified in the report, including the ongoing detention of under-18s in St Patrick's Institution, and issues around “incomplete, inaccurate, and at times misleading” prison records, which present obstacles in the Inspector's investigations of prison deaths.

The Inspector concludes his report with the comment: "I find it disappointing that, where I have identified deficiencies in one prison, I find the same deficiencies at a later stage in other prisons despite having commented on such deficiency in a published report and in certain instances in a number of reports."

See below for media coverage of the issues and concerns raised.

Publications:

• Office of the Inspector of Prisons Annual Report 2013/2014 (presented to Minister 26 Aug 2014, published 9 Oct 2014)
• Justice Press Release: Minister Fitzgerald publishes the Inspector of Prisons Annual Report for 2013/2014 (9 Oct 2014)
• IPRT Press Release: Failures in accountability structures in Irish prisons “extremely disturbing” – IPRT (9 Oct 2014)

Listen back:

• Newstalk 'Breakfast': IPRT's Deirdre Malone (10 Oct 2014)

Read more:

• Breakingnews.ie: Some officers abusing authority, says Inspector of Prisons (9 Oct 2014)
• thejournal.ie: Prison officers say they’re told to “cover their arses” (9 Oct 2014)
• The Cork News: Concern over 'certain aspects' of Cork Prison (9 Oct 2014)
• Irish Examiner: Inspector of Prisons hits out at ‘abuse of powers’, drug use and bullying in new report (10 Oct 2014)
• The Irish Times: Judge voices concern over prison record keeping (10 Oct 2014)
• The Irish Times: Prisons are reforming but disturbing aspects of previous culture remain (10 Oct 2014)