The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture has published an extremely damning report on conditions in prisons in Ireland. The CPT are also very critical of policing and express concern that although progress is being made in relation to the handling of detained persons by police officers ill-treatment still remains an area of concern.
One of the most worrying aspects of the report however is the continuing abuse of vulnerable individuals who find themselves in places of detention the CPT say:
“In the two psychiatric hospitals of St. Brendan’s (Dublin) and St Ita’s (Portraine), and St. Joseph’s Intellectual disability service (Portraine), the CPT found a significant level of violence, both between patients and directed
towards staff, as well as poor living conditions for patients. The CPT also expresses concern as regards the understaffing in all three institutions. Further, the Irish authorities are urged to make progress in adopting a new
Mental Capacity Bill in order to replace the outdated 1871 Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act.
As regards the Central Mental Hospital in the Dundrum area of Dublin, the CPT note positive developments concerning the treatment of patients and staffing levels.”
The full text of the CPT press release can be found here:
https://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/irl/2011-02-10-eng.htm
The full text of the CPT report can be found here:
https://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/irl/2011-03-inf-eng.htm
J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League
15/02/11