IPOA seeks urgent talks as prison officer contracts TB

THE Irish Prison Officers’ Association (IPOA) is seeking an urgent meeting with Public Health Department after one of its officers contracted TB at a jail where there was a recent outbreak of the disease among inmates.

It is believed that the prison officer, who worked at Cloverhill prison in Dublin, may have contracted the disease while he was escorting one of the prisoners diagnosed with TB for hospital treatment.

Around half a dozen TB cases were diagnosed among inmates at the prison a couple of months ago. At the time of the outbreak 300 staff and 450 prisoners were immediately screened.