The State Claims Agency (SCA), part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), has published a major review of assaults on operational prison staff in Ireland.
The review was initiated in 2015 following a number of violent physical assaults on Irish Prison Service (IPS) staff by prisoners. Its aim was to review the incidents of assaults on prison staff by prisoners, to determine the root cause, to comment on the potential for future reoccurrence and to make recommendations for improvement.
The review found that there is some evidence to suggest that the number of direct assaults may be increasing but this evidence is not conclusive. It found that 3% of prison staff (93 people) were directly assaulted by prisoners in 2015, which was broadly in line with an annual average of 95 assaults per year in the five-year period from 2011 to 2015. Given that there were 17,206 committals to prison in 2015, the ratio of these assaults to the number of prisoners in the system is low.
The review, which looked at a range of operational, staff, prisoner and governance factors, found that assaults are carried out by a relatively small number of prisoners with an established pattern of challenging behaviours and/or mental health problems.
It also estimates that the total cost to the State of assaults on prison staff was approximately €26 million for the period 2008 to 2015.
Ciarán Breen, Director of the State Claims Agency, said: “The State Claims Agency has an important role in assessing risks to people who work for the State and identifying areas where changes can be made to improve their safety.
This review is a crucial step in reducing assaults on prison staff and in reducing the significant costs to the taxpayer of these assaults.”
Pat Kirwan, Deputy Director of the State Claims Agency and lead on the Review Group, said: “This review involved detailed interviews and surveys of staff, governors and management, benchmarking against other European Prison Agencies and extensive research and data analysis.
A very positive finding was that Irish Prison Service (IPS) management are strongly committed to addressing this risk and are supported by a staff that demonstrated an informed view of the complexity of the challenges involved. These are critical factors in driving change.
The facts gathered have enabled the review group to make important recommendations that can result in a real and tangible improvement in the safety of prison staff.”
© 2021 National Treasury Management Agency