80 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Justice if a person (details supplied) is the only long term prisoner in Limerick Womens' Prison; the amount of her sentence served to date in isolation; if her cell is amongst the smallest in the prison system, with no sanitation, obliging her to "slop out"; if she has access to the prison school, CERT courses, and craft shops; if she can work in the kitchen, laundry or trades; if she is generally confined to a very small area in a tiny wing; if she has been refused family visits via Mountjoy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

82 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) who is currently serving a ten year sentence in Limerick Prison; his views on whether the conditions under which she is serving her sentence are humane and whether certain rights are being denied to her; if he intends to arrange for her transfer to more suitable accommodation; and the reason, in spite of several letters to him from Deputy Garland, and several standard acknowledgments, over the last eleven months, Deputy Garland has not received a reply to his queries.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 82 together.

The female prisoner to whom the Deputy refers was sentenced to four concurrent ten years sentences for armed robbery and firearms offences. She is one of a very few long term female prisoners in the prison system and is, at present, the only long term prisoner in Limerick Female Prison. However, at no stage since her incarceration has she served any portion of her sentence in isolation.

The cell she occupies is one of twelve cells in the female section of the prison and is similar in dimension to other cells in Limerick Prison.

At present about 40 per cent of the prison population have either in-cell sanitation or 24-hour access to sanitary facilities and it is planned to extend this on a phased basis. Limerick prison does not at the present time have in-cell sanitation. However, female prisoners in Limerick have access to out-of-cell toilet facilities up to 10 p.m.