Penal reform group calls for urgent action on violence in prison

Violence in Irish prisons is unacceptable and needs to be “addressed urgently”, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has said.

Deirdre Malone, executive director of the IPRT, said there needed to be “a multi-level approach which addresses the root causes of such violence”.

A review of assaults on prison staff published by the State Claims Agency (SCA) in 2016 found that there were 93 prisoner on staff assaults and 587 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in 2015.

It found that “a relatively small number of prisoners carried out these assaults, and that those who did, had an established pattern of challenging behaviours and/or mental health problems”, with substance abuse and mental illness as a contributing factor in some cases.

Speaking today, Ms Malone (pictured) said: “Any act of violence in Irish prisons, whether visited on a member of prison staff or on a prisoner, is unacceptable and needs to be addressed urgently.

“Preventing and reducing violence requires a multi-level approach which addresses the root causes of such violence.

“The establishment of a national violent and disruptive prisoner unit planned to open in 2018 is a welcome development.

“We endorse the previous recommendations of the State Claims Agency that the IPS should focus its emphasis on the management of prisoner behaviours using conflict resolution techniques to deescalate situations that could lead to physical violence through further training and selection of staff.

“We also welcome the recommendation to extend, as far as possible, existing arrangements to take prisoners with serious mental health issues out of the prison system for care in more appropriate locations.”