Assaults on prison workers cost State €30m

Assaults on prison staff have cost the State almost €30m since 2008. However, the ratio of assaults by prisoners on Irish Prison Service (IPS) members is reportedly relatively low.

A study was conducted last year by the State Claims Agency (SCA) following a number of violent physical assaults on IPS staff.

The aim of the study was to review the incidents of assault, determine the root cause, comment on the potential for future assaults and to make recommendations for improvement.

The SCA found that while there was some evidence to suggest the number of direct assaults on staff may be increasing, the evidence was “not conclusive”.

In 2015, 93 (3%) of prison staff were directly assaulted by prisoners, a figure that was broadly in line with the annual average, between 2011 and 2015, of 95 assaults. The report said that, given there were 17,206 committals to prison in 2015, the ratio of assaults was low.

The review examined a range of operational, staff, prisoner and governance factors and found assaults are carried out by a relatively small number of prisoners with an established pattern of challenging behaviours and/or mental health problems.

The SCA review recommended the current practice of prison staff not carrying batons as standard, should continue.

However, it did recommend that prison officers be permitted to carry batons outside prisons while on escort duties and also called for the IPS to explore the use of pepper spray to be used in a controlled manner for certain situations.

The review also urged the IPS to examine opportunities to reduce the frequency of prisoners leaving prisons for court appearances and hospital visits through greater use of video links and improved on-site medical facilities.

The SCA review did not recommend the routine wearing of body armour on prison landings or within the perimeter of jails but said it should be available for other activities subject to a needs analysis.

It also called for increased focus on the management of prisoner behaviours using conflict-resolution techniques to “de-escalate situations that could lead to physical violence” through further training and selection of staff.

In May, prison officers called for improved protective equipment like batons and pepper spray after a violent assault in the Midlands prison. Following the attack, the assistant general secretary of the Irish Prisoner Officers Association, Gabriel Keaveney, demanded staff needed to be better protected by being given pepper spray, batons and conflict resolution dogs.

The director general of the Irish Prison Service, Michael Donnellan, said he was pleased the review found the ratio of assaults to the number of prisoners was low but said the service should always strive to improve.

“The role of a prison officer is a difficult and challenging one,” he said. “Prison staff must deal with a wide range of complex issues and there are occasions when they are subjected to unacceptable acts of violence.

“The report contains a large number of recommendations and I accept these recommendations which will be implemented — an undertaking that has been included as a Key Action in the Irish Prison Service’s Strategic Plan 2016-2018.”

The IPS said that, given the substantive nature of the recommendations, an implementation plan will be developed and actioned over the course of the next two years. SCA director Ciarán Breen said the review was “a crucial step in reducing assaults on prison staff and in reducing the significant costs to the taxpayer of these assaults”.