asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the information which he will provide regarding the frequency and extent of strip-searching of the women prisoners that were formerly detained in Armagh Jail and that are now detained at Maghaberry Prison in the last four weeks; and if he has asked the British Government to replace this practice by the use of electronic scanning equipment.

As I indicated in my reply to the Deputy on 12 March, I am concerned at the continuing practice of strip-searching of women prisoners in Armagh prison and I have raised this issue with the British authorities on a number of occasions.

The most recent details I have to hand concerning the strip-searching of female prisoners in Northern Ireland relate to March. During March a total of 37 searches were carried out on 23 prisoners; 11 prisoners were searched once; 10 were searched twice and two prisoners were searched on three occasions. Armagh prison closed on 18 March and the prisoners were transferred to Maghaberry. The figures I have given relate to both establishments.

In our contacts with the British authorities we have been seeking to reduce the practice of strip-searching to the absolute minimum consistent with the secure administration of the prisons.