TDs from different parties appeal to McDowell not to shut prison doors
Fine Gael's Simon Coveney and David Staunton; the Labour Party's Kathleen Lynch, and Dan Boyle of the Green Party have all visited the prison in recent weeks to inspect what they describe as one of the best-run prisons in the country.
They are concerned that Justice Minister Michael McDowell's decision to close the prison as a response to the refusal of prison officers to accept a new annualised hours system will be seriously detrimental to young offenders who have benefited from the prison's education service and its largely drug free environment.
The four Opposition TDs visited the prison in groups of two and all say they were impressed by its facilities, its safe and individualised environment, and the high participation rates of prisoners in its education programmes. Spike Island houses up to 106 young offenders aged between 16 and 24. They argue that it is one of the most cost-effective prisons in the country; has rates of recidivism that are lower than elsewhere; and has recorded only one suicide since it opened in 1985, a remarkable statistic when compared to other prisons in Ireland.
"You cannot argue with the unacceptable level of overtime in the prison service generally," says Ms Lynch.
"The difficulty with the argument (Mr McDowell) makes is that Spike Island is one of the best prisons in Ireland and it makes no sense to close it.
"In the education centre, which is highly developed, there is an 86% attendance rate, all of it on a voluntary basis."
For the four TDs, the minister's tactic of mothballing two prisons in an effort to coerce prison officers to reduce the levels of overtime pay is wrong and will have serious implications for both the staff of Fort Mitchell and for prisoners, who they say will be transferred to unsuitable facilities.
They want Mr McDowell to rescind his decision to close the prison immediately and to pursue alternative and less drastic avenues to resolve the dispute, which has been ongoing since last April.
"All four of us have visited Spike with a view to taking a unified approach," said Mr Coveney.
"When we visited, prisoners kept asking us was the prison going to be closed. They told us that if it was closed they would be transferred to St Patrick's Institution, the Midlands Prison or Limerick.
"One fellow reminded us that the prison is drugs-free. He said if he was sent back to St Patrick's he couldn't guarantee that he would stay off drugs."
Mr Staunton pointed to the expertise that teachers in Spike Island had built up from working with young offenders for many years.
The prison, he said, did not record the same levels of sick leave or overtime as other facilities in the prison service.
"The teachers act almost as counsellors. And the prison officers know the lads and get on well with them. In fact, there's a new building programme put in place there that cost €7 million since 1999."
Mr Boyle points out that the minister has never visited the prison and should have done so before taking any decision to shut it down.
"If anything, the potential is there for significant expansion. Cork Prison is a claustrophobic place. Spike has a lot of space and could easily be expanded to cater for 500. The minister says he does not want to close it. But he is using it as a bargaining chip in his dispute with prison officers," says Mr Boyle.
All four TDS say that the minister should have used other means rather than taking a unilateral action to force the hand of prison officers.
Prison officers have agreed to go to the Labour Relations Commission and argue that the minister should be willing to engage in talks at the LRC, without having to resort to closing prisons.
In all, there are 105 prison officers based at Fort Mitchell, with an additional 17 staff employed in the education unit.
The teachers are attached to County Cork VEC but half are not permanent and may not be redeployed.
"The teachers have nothing to do with this argument," says Mr Coveney. "They have amassed a bank of skills in a very difficult area. All of this will be lost if the prison shuts down."
