Irish prison policy over transgender inmates delayed due to ‘complexity’

The Irish Prison Service has spent more than a year trying to draft a new policy on transgender prisoners, with the “complexity” of the issue being blamed for the delay.

In March last year, concerns were raised about placing a violent transgender woman in a female prison. At the time, then taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he believed violent prisoners who were born biologically male but identify as female should not be put into female prisons.

Simon Harris, who was acting justice minister at the time, said: “There is no circumstance, regardless of gender, where anybody should be at risk of violence in a prison.

“The Irish Prison Service is currently finalising a policy in relation to transgender prisoners. And this is a policy that will be informed by best international practice. Indeed, they are looking at a number of other jurisdictions in terms of how this issue has been approached. And I expect that to be concluded in the next few weeks.”

But more than a year on, the policy is still not finalised. A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said the delay was down to the “complexity” of the issue.

“The Irish Prison Service is continuing its consultation with stakeholders towards developing a policy document for the management of transgender prisoners,” the spokesman said.

“This has included consideration of submissions received from interest groups, consultation with the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and international prison services and further consultation is ongoing.”

In its annual report for 2021, the visiting committee for the Dóchas Centre women’s prison at Mountjoy said that during that year there had been a transgender woman in custody.

The report said that without a clear policy, the governor had to use a rule designed to protect vulnerable prisoners who could be at risk of harm from others, which involved “extended periods of isolation and reduced access to education and recreation”.

It said the governor felt that having transgender prisoners across Dóchas, Limerick and the Midlands Prison “will force the conversation nationally within the service”.

The report stated: “In our view, it is insufficient to wait for circumstances to force the conversation – the creation of a clear, fair and supportive transgender policy is urgent and essential.

“The absence of a clear policy is a matter of concern if the prison aspires to be inclusive of all women in custody. We would strongly urge that this be dealt with as a matter of priority.

“It is essential that relevant training and education be provided for prison staff to support the policy effectively and ensure the dignity and safety of any transgender women who come into custody.”

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) had also last year called for a formal policy on transgender prisons.

“It is becoming a more common thing where we have transgender people coming into prison and it is our priority to keep our members safe,” Tony Power of the POA said.

“We are asking the prison service to come up with a policy on transgender prisoners.”