Prison service U-turn on protected disclosures

Disclosures have been made by various grades of prison officer, from governor level to recruit officer level. At least one disclosure has been under investigation for more than a year.

A decision by the director general of the Irish Prison Service to suspend investigations into protected disclosures has been reversed, following publication of the decision in the Irish Examiner.

Caron McCaffrey, the director general of the IPS, had instructed legal firms investigating disclosures from within the service to suspend inquiries because the investigations were not deemed to be “essential” at the current time.

Ordinarily, Ms McCaffrey would have no role in any investigations once they have been contracted out to legal firms, and her intervention is highly unusual.

Legal firms are examining allegations of fraud, malpractice, and falsified records in a number of protected disclosures emanating from the service.

Disclosures have been made by various grades of prison officer, from governor level to recruit officer level. At least one disclosure has been under investigation for more than a year.

Over the last two weeks, legal firms sent out emails to disclosers, pointing out: “The director-general of the IPS has decided that protected disclosure investigations will be suspended, as they are not deemed essential or priority work during the current crisis.”

The investigators are not employed directly by the IPS and their work does not impact on resources in the service.

As reported in the Irish Examiner last Monday, a number of disclosers had expressed fears that the suspension was an attempt to frustrate the investigations.

By Wednesday, legal firms had reactivated communications with a number of disclosers and indicated the suspension has been lifted.

The Irish Examiner understands that the change of policy has been attributed to a communication issue, the details of which are unclear.

Queries to the IPS about the lifting of the suspension had not received any response by the time of going to print. Similarly, the original query to the service about the imposition of the suspension did not receive a response.

There has been a number of controversies around how the service dealt with protected disclosures in recent years, including one case of a prison officer being awarded €30,000 by the Workplace Relations Commission after it was deemed that they had been penalised as a result of making a disclosure.

Meanwhile, the IPS has confirmed that contrary to reports in the media, prison gyms continue to operate.

A report on the Nine O’Clock News earlier this week indicated that all “gyms and recreational areas” had been shut down as part of social distancing measures in prisons.

Following a query from the Irish Examiner, an IPS statement said: “While the RTÉ report refers to the closure of gyms, only staff gyms are currently closed and gyms for inmates remain open at this time, with appropriate safeguards.”