Severe overcrowding, filthy cells and violence continue to be serious problems in the country's prisons, Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly has said.
He has also set a July 1st deadline for the Irish Prison Service to implement "best practice" standards that are aimed at improving the safety and health of prisoners.
In his 2010 annual report, which is published today, Judge Reilly says he is "disappointed" that not all members of senior management in prisons have read his previous reports outlining the standards required in prisons.
He also criticises management in Limerick prison for "indifference" in relation to its failure to respond to his past complaint about putting drinking water taps beside a "slopping out" station in the prison.
In a departure from previous reports, he sets a specific deadline of July 1st for a series of measures to be introduced in all prisons.
These include introducing:
- appropriate use of safety observation and close supervision cells.
- proper complaints procedure
- proper disciplinary procedure
- proper procedures to investigate the deaths of prisoners
-appropriate healthcare
All these "best practice" measures should be accompanied by appropriate record keeping, says the inspector's annual report.
"If, after the 1st July, I find it necessary to comment adversely on those issues that I have identified... I will be led to the inescapable conclusion that local management is indifferent to both their obligations to adhere to best practice and to maintaining their prisons to acceptable norms," he says.