The ‘Irish Examiner’ last year published claims about covert surveillance in prisons. A report was made — but will it be published and followed up on, asks Michael Clifford.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has said he is concerned at the “contents” of a report by the Inspector of Prisons into allegations of illegal surveillance of prison officers.

Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has expressed “grave concern” at the handling of deaths in prisons, according to internal prison service correspondence seen by the Irish Examiner.

Prison staff have been disciplined after CCTV disproved records that an inmate in Cork Prison was checked every 15 minutes in the hours before he was found dead in his cell.

The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has sought an investigation into allegations surrounding surveillance in prisons.

Prison staff in Cork were disciplined after it was discovered they filed “misleading and inaccurate” records about the care afforded to a vulnerable inmate on the night he died.

There is no independent inspection in Ireland of a range of detention facilities, including Garda stations, prisoner transport and immigration units, according to an expert report.

The possibility of the HSE running prison healthcare services instead of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) is currently under discussion, the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) has heard.

The possibility of the HSE running prison healthcare services instead of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) is currently under discussion, the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) has heard.

A 38-year-old inmate of Cloverhill prison died in his hospital bed with his electronic tag still on — and it stayed on the deceased for a further five hours before finally being removed.

Ireland is breaching human rights by not allowing adult prisoners have complaints independently investigated, according to a leading judge.

The solicitor for a detained Afghan youth who was slashed across the face during Wednesday’s riot in Cloverhill Prison said his client is "deeply traumatised" by the experience.

The suspect in the fatal stabbing of a “model inmate” at Cork Prison was cleared for kitchen duty despite a history of violent knife crime.

Plans to allow sex offenders get early release from jail where they engage in programmes to lessen their risk of reoffending are being considered by the Department of Justice and the Prison Service.

The Inspector of Prisons has been expressing concerns about bullying in Irish jails.

Inmates under protection in Mountjoy are kept in "unacceptable" conditions, fuelling "obvious tension" in the prison’s separation unit.

The Oireachtas Justice Committee has called on the Government to test a new Community Court to deal with local crimes.

Limerick Prison failed to follow its own procedures to watch over a man who took his own life while on suicide watch.

Prison officers are calling on the Government for a new watchdog body to investigate complaints made by offenders.

LATE on Wednesday evening came the news that Justice Minister Alan Shatter had requested Judge Michael Reilly, Inspector of Prisons, carry out an urgent independent investigation into the announcement that conversations between 139 prisoners and their solicitors had been “inadvertently recorded” on prison phone lines since 2010.

Claims that Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan was forced from office should be investigated by the high-level probe into the bugging scandal, the Oireachtas Justice Committee has told the Taoiseach.

Cormac O’Keeffe says the cases highlighted show vulnerable people let down by the system.

JIM COLLINS jumps up out of his seat as soon as we enter the room.

Six out of 10 criminals imprisoned for burglary, kidnapping, and assaults reoffended within three years of being released.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has confirmed Garda recruitment will recommence today with an estimated 300 posts being offered.

The ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, has criticised the continuing exclusion of the oversight of prisons and immigration issues from the remit of her office.

A Cork drug dealer serving a 16-year sentence for the biggest seizure of ecstasy in the State has died from a suspected overdose in prison.

Not before time, some home truths about Ireland’s flourishing drugs trade were spelled out yesterday at the MacGill summer school in Donegal by a man who knows what he’s talking about, Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly.

Concerns are being raised as to how the educational and childcare requirements of young offenders being transferred from St Patrick’s Institution to Wheatfield Prison are going to be met.

Young offenders are being verbally abused, denied basic rights and held in cold, filthy cells with broken toilets filled with excrement.

The following are some of the “very disturbing” breaches of prisoners’ fundamental rights at St Patrick’s Institution as outlined by Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Kelly.

A “rigid, inflexible culture” and the persistent behaviour of a “small cohort” of prison officers has forced the authorities to scrap St Patrick’s Institution, the head of the Irish Prison Service has said.

Punishments in Irish jails are totally out of line with international norms, the prisons inspector has warned.

A report into the death of a prisoner in Cloverhill courthouse in 2011 has found that organs of the prison system failed to communicate with each other, failed to adhere to standard work practices and didn't keep adequate records.

October

Former St Pat’s inmate tells Claire O’Sullivan how life works on the inside

Graphic pictures of a culture of bullying, fear and intimidation at St Patrick’s Institution for young offenders as portrayed in yesterday’s stark report would not be out of place in the pages of a Dickens novel.

The human rights of children and young adults at St Patrick’s Institution are being ignored or violated, Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly has said.

The Government should consider shutting down St Patrick’s Institution given growing revelations about violence there, penal reformers have suggested.

Concerns have been raised over support given to elderly prisoners in a Dublin jail.

Prisoners will get a new system to make complaints about denial of family visits, bullying, assaults, and other issues, it was announced yesterday.

The report by Judge Michael Reilly, Inspector of Prisons (Jan 18), into the conditions within Limerick Prison came as no surprise to those familiar with the prison justice system in Ireland.

INMATES at Limerick Prison are still sharing slopping out buckets, staying in cells which smell of sewage, and facing 150%-plus capacity levels despite assurances the issues would be addressed over a year ago.

A report into conditions at Limerick Prison has criticised the facility as being ovecrowded, unhygienic and, in certain areas, "not fit for purpose".