Resignation of Dóchas Governor Highlights Failures of Prison System

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Resignation of Dóchas Governor Highlights Failures of Prison System and Need for Radical Review of Use of Imprisonment for Women, says Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice

NEWS RELEASE

Monday, 26 April 2010

The resignation of Kathleen McMahon, Governor of the Dóchas Detention Centre for women, highlights the urgent need for a fundamental review of the use of imprisonment as a response to crimes committed by women, the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has stated today.

Responding to the resignation, Eoin Carroll, Acting Director of the Jesuit Centre, said: “The reasons cited by Ms McMahon for her resignation make clear the seriousness of the problems now existing within the Irish prison system in respecting the rights and responding to the needs of women who are detained.”

Mr Carroll went on to say: “The resignation of a highly-regarded Governor, and the reasons underlying it, highlight the need for a robust, independent review of the extent to which imprisonment is being used in the case of women offenders, the operation of prison facilities for women and the scope for non-custodial sentences”. The independent Corston review of women’s prisons in England (2007) provided a set of recommendations to radically change the approach to dealing with women offenders and led to the appointment of a ‘Ministerial Champion’ for Women in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales.

Mr Carroll added: “It is highly regrettable that the enlightened approach which led to the building of the high-quality facilities in the Dóchas Centre now seems to have been abandoned. The ethos and progressive regime of the Centre, considered to have been the ‘shining feature’ of the Irish prison system, have been eroded as a result of overcrowding.”

“Furthermore, Carroll said, “building of the Dóchas Centre was based on enlightened policy; however this has now been eroded due to chronic overcrowding, a ‘Ministerial Champion’ would ensure vulnerable women do not end up in prison”.

Responding to the issue of overcrowding in the Dóchas Centre, Carroll went on to say, “Overcrowding in the Centre has been an issue for some time but in recent years the problem has become acute. In his answer to a parliamentary question last week, the Minister of Justice, Dermot Ahern, revealed just how endemic the problem now is in the Dóchas Centre. With a design capacity for 85 women in single cell occupancy, only 55 women (42 per cent of the total of 130 now imprisoned in the Centre) are in fact accommodated in a single cell.”

The remainder are accommodated as follows:

54 women in “Double Cells”
12 women in “Treble Cells”
4 women in a “Quadruple Cell”
5 women in one cell

Eoin Carroll went on to say: “The severely delayed Thornton Hall prison complex is being seen as the panacea to the problems of overcrowding in the Dóchas Centre and the prison system as a whole. Instead, we should instead be looking to reduce the use of imprisonment for less serious offences, by radically developing non-custodial alternatives punishments that would focus on rehabilitation”.

“The reality is that the majority of women sentenced to imprisonment are convicted of non-violent crimes of poverty. Studies of women in prison highlight the vulnerability of many of those detained, revealing high incidences of psychiatric illness, addiction to drugs and alcohol, family and relationship breakdown, homelessness, unemployment, and educational under-achievement.”

[Ends]

For further information or for interviews, please contact:
Eoin Carroll, Acting Director, Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice
Tel: 087 225 0793; 01 855 6914
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice is a member of the Women in Prison Reform Alliance (WPRA), which includes organisations and individuals concerned about the rights of women who come into the criminal justice system. Other members of the Alliance include the The Irish Penal Reform Trust, National Women’s Council of Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Mercy Justice Office, and Dominican Justice Office.

In December 2009, the WPRA submitted a proposal to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a Government-commissioned, independent review of policy and practice in relation to women in the criminal justice system. It proposed that this review should focus on examining the current use of imprisonment for women, and exploring the scope for extending the range and utilisation of non-custodial alternatives.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice is an agency of the Irish Jesuit Province. The Centre undertakes social analysis and theological reflection in relation to issues of social justice, including housing and homelessness, penal policy, health policy, asylum and migration.