Author
As mentioned in Place of Detention, the Reception Conditions Regulations amend the places an asylum applicant can be detained to include any police station and Cloverhill Prison. Whether this means that female detainees will no longer be detained in a female-only prison is unknown.
Regulation 19 of the Reception Conditions Regulations sets out detention conditions in that detained applicants shall: (a) be kept separately from any prisoner detained in the place of detention; (b) be kept separately from other third country nationals who are not applicants and who are detained in the place of detention; and (c) have access to open air spaces.
The Irish Prison Service manages the day-to-day operation of detention facilities in Ireland. All staff entering the prison service receive basic training from the Irish Prison College, including custodial care, equality, diversity, cultural and social awareness, as well as human rights and ethical dimensions to custodial care.[1]
While there has been some progress in respect of prison conditions in recent years, there remains ongoing issues with regard to overcrowding, with many people sleeping on mattresses and sharing of cells having become a regular feature across the prison estate.[2]
Prisoners are provided with items such as soap, sanitary towels, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and razors. Prisoners are also entitled to a balanced and nutritious diet. Whereby a prisoner is a member of a particular religion and therefore has particular dietary requirements, the Prison Governor will try, insofar as possible to ensure that appropriate food is available.[3]
According to the Irish Prison Service website, the Irish Prison Service’s official mission is ‘providing safe and secure custody, dignity of care and rehabilitation to prisoners for safer communities.’ In line with this mission, they offer numerous services to prisoners, including, basic education classes, as well as specialised classes in creative arts, technology, life skills and health living. Work and vocational training programmes are also available.[4]
With regard to healthcare, prisoners are entitled to receive the same standard of healthcare as members of the public in possession of a medical card. The Irish Prison Service also has a duty to provide appropriate mental health support to prisoners. The Irish Prison Psychology Service provides mental health treatment and support to prisoners. However, reports indicate that some prisoners are required to wait in excess of two-years to access mental health supports as a result of long waiting lists, lack of investment and resource planning.[5]
With respect to vulnerable applicants who are detained, Regulation 19(9), provides that the Minister shall ensure that the person is monitored regularly and that they are provided with adequate support, taking into account the person’s individual situation, including their health.
Under Regulation 19(6), all applicants are entitled to information on (a) the rules applicable to the place of detention and (b) that person’s rights and obligations while detained, in a language they can understand, which should include their entitlement to legal representation.
In late November 2020, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture released its 7th periodic visit report on Ireland. In the report, the Committee reiterated its long-standing call for Irish authorities to suspend the use of prisons for immigration detention, noting that “a prison is by definition not a suitable place in which to detain someone who is neither suspected nor convicted of a criminal offence.”[6] The Committee reported that it had met with several immigration detainees who detailed the harassment and abuse they had received from other prisoners. It noted, for example, a case whereby a “middle-aged diminutive foreign national was placed in a cell with two young remand prisoners who allegedly attempted to rape him as well as physically aggressed and verbally intimidated him.”[7]
[1] Irish Prison Service, ‘Irish Prison Service College’, available: here.
[2] Irish Penal Reform Trust, ‘Progress in the Penal System’, 26 May 2023, available: here.
[3] Irish Council of Civil Liberties and Irish Penal Reform Trust, ‘Know Your Rights as a Prisoner’, 2012, available: here.
[4] Irish Prison Service, ‘Irish Prison Education Service’, 2018, available: here.
[5] The Journal, ‘Some Irish Prisoners Facing waits of over two years to access mental health treamtents’, 7 July 2023, available: here.
[6] European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Report to the Government of Ireland on the visit to Ireland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment from 23 September to 4 October 2019, 24 November 2020, available: here, 17.
[7] ibid, 17.