Prison service boss suspends protected disclosures probes

Caron McCaffrey: Prison service director general has called for the suspension of investigations on the basis they are not essential.

The director general of the Irish Prison Service has ordered that all investigations into protected disclosures in the service be suspended during the health crisis.

The directive from Caron McCaffrey is on the basis that the investigations are not an essential part of the service at the current time. However, the investigations are being conducted by independent legal firms and would not impact directly on the work of the prison service.

The move is being seen by some prison officers, for whom allegations are being investigated, as an attempt to frustrate the investigations.

Currently, legal firms are examining allegations of fraud, malpractice, and falsifying records in a number of different protected disclosures emanating from the service.

Disclosures have been made by different grades of prison officers, from governor level down to recruit officer level.

The legal firms appointed to investigate the protected disclosures wrote to disclosers over the last week to inform them of the suspension of investigation on direction from Ms McCaffrey.

John Devitt, chief executive of the anti-corruption body Transparency International Ireland, which works with the prison service on protected disclosures, says that his body has recommended that investigations continue to be carried out during the current crisis “unless it is absolutely necessary to suspend them”.

“If an investigation is already under way it should be allowed to continue and the decision on whether it should be suspended should rest with the investigator,” he said.

“We can understand that some organisations will be redeploying staff and will have resources stretched during the crisis, but now more than ever it’s essential that workers be encouraged to speak up about potential wrongdoing or health and safety concerns and that management respond or act on those concerns quickly.”

Queries sent to the prison service last Friday about the suspension had not received any reply at the time of going to print.

Meanwhile, sources in the prisons have confirmed that despite media reports a week ago that prison gyms were shut down, they continued to operate right up until Good Friday, at least.

Media reports last week stated the gyms were all closed in deference to the social distancing rules brought in by the Government. One source suggested to the Irish Examiner the gyms were being kept open on an ad hoc basis to minimise the prospect of unrest in the prisons.

Queries to the Irish Prison Service about the status of the gyms had not received an answer by last night.