No temporary release for Limerick prisoners despite Covid cases

All inmates will be on a restricted regime in the facility until mass testing has been completed

Female offenders in Limerick are in single-cell accommodation.

A Covid case in the Limerick women's prison is being handled without transferring inmates elsewhere, despite it being at full capacity.

There are currently two cases of the virus in Limerick’s prison, with the other being in the C wing in the male part of the jail.

The female division in Limerick currently has 28 inmates and is the only facility in the system that is currently at full capacity.

But a spokesman for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said that there will be no inmates transferred from there to the Dóchas Centre in Mountjoy due to the Covid-19 case.

He said all inmates will be on a restricted regime in the Limerick facility until mass testing has been completed.

He added: “We wouldn’t be moving anybody anyway because you would be spreading the transmission into other prisons. Whatever numbers are in Limerick today will remain there until testing is complete.” 

Female offenders in Limerick are in single-cell accommodation.

Nine female inmates are currently on temporary release.

The spokesman said no further female offenders will be granted temporary release from Limerick until the outbreak is stood down.

There are also Covid-19 cases in the Midlands and Cloverhill prisons.

A statement from the IPS said: “The total number of prisoners that have tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic is 413. 

Given the current level of prevalence of the virus in the community, the Irish Prison Service now faces an unprecedented challenge in continuing to keep prisoners safe from infection. 

"The Prison Service has managed 12 Covid-19 outbreaks within a prison setting since November 2021, of which, 9 have been successfully stood down.” 

There is currently one prisoner in the Midlands’s B division with the virus and an outbreak control team has been reconvened. 

The team had been stood down after an outbreak involving 16 inmates of the G division was brought under control recently.

Mass testing is also under way at Cloverhill after one inmate in the B division has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Outbreak teams in Mountjoy and Portlaoise prisons have been stood down this week.

The teams were set up to deal with the outbreaks of 27 cases in the C division in Portlaoise and 41 in the C and D divisions of Mountjoy.

The IPS said that where there is an active outbreak of Covid-19, a restricted regime is implemented until mass testing is complete.

Cloverhill, Midlands, and Limerick outbreak control teams and prison management have implemented additional infection control measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 to the wider prison population, according to the IPS.

Its statement said that the service is working closely with the HSE’s Public Health department to manage outbreaks.