Statement: Bacik calls for Justice Committee Hearing on Dochas Centre Report
24 November 2011
BACIK CALLS FOR JUSTICE COMMITTEE HEARING ON DOCHAS CENTRE REPORT
Senator Ivana Bacik
Labour Party Seanad Leader
24th November 2011
Senator Ivana Bacik today called for a hearing at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice into the findings of the recent Report of the Visiting Committee to the Dochas Centre women's prison.
In response to the Report, Senator Bacik said:
“The recently published Visiting Committee Report on the Dochas Centre has documented very serious concerns around incidents in the Dochas Centre, in particular the forcible removal of a prisoner from the Centre in May 2010, and the carrying-out of intimate searches of women prisoners in a gym in the presence of male officers.
The report also refers to a 'distinct shift from the ethos on which the success of Dochas was built' and expresses concern about the future direction of the prison.
Given these very serious issues, I have contacted David Stanton TD, the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, of which I am a member, recommending that we should invite the members of the Visiting Committee into the Oireachtas to hear directly from them as to the substance of their findings and the full details around their concerns about the change of ethos within the prison.”
ENDS