RTE Radio 1, Brian O’Connell interviews Cork Governor Pat Dawson on the Return of Physical Visits

This is the Privacy Policy of (hereby referred to as “us” and “we”):

Irish Prison Service

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is so that individuals understand how we process their information.

We will process any personal information provided to us by individuals, whether it be provided through our website ( www.irishprisons.ie), customer application form, telephone, email or by any other means, or otherwise held by us in relation to you in the manner set out in this policy.

By submitting your information to us and or by using the Website you confirm your consent to the use of your personal information as set out by this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy please do not use the Website or provide us with any personal information.

Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone.

We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. to ship an order.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.

Information collected by us

The information about you that we may collect, use and store (process) includes:

• Information you provide to us by filling out any forms on the website or by way of emailing us.
• Records of correspondences whether by email, telephone, through any form on our website or by any other means,
• Details of any business or commercial transactions you carry out with us, whether it be through email, the website, telephone, or by any other means.
• Details of your visits to our website including traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data in accordance with our Cookie Policy that may identify non-personal information (i.e. information of an anonymised or technical nature).

Information Storage

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your information is kept secure and protected, including but not limited to electronic data being protected using appropriate software, relevant networks safety and security checks, and, where applicable, any physical data records will be kept in an appropriately secure environment.

Your Access to and Control Over Information

You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number given on our website:

• See what data we have about you, if any.
• Change/correct any data we have about you.
• Have us delete any data we have about you.
• Express any concern you have about our use of your data.

Security

We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline.

Wherever we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a lock icon in the address bar and looking for “https” at the beginning of the address of the Web page.

While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

Links

This website may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

The Process

When visiting a Prison, you will be required to pass the security screening process which will include some or all of the following:

• X Ray machine
• Walk through metal detector
• Narcotic / explosive swab detection
• Canine screening
• Pat down search

Should you fail any part of the screening process, a pat down search will then be conducted. Prior to commencing a pat down search, the officer will activate their body worn camera, to record visual and audio footage at that time.

Please note the onus is on the visitor to pass all aspects of the screening process.

Should staff feel it necessary at any point during the screening process, they will also activate the body worn camera for incidents such as threatening and abusive behavior

Advisory

In order to assist with the screening process:

• Please do not bring any personal belongings or items with you (place all such items in the lockers provided in the waiting room)
• You should only have your photo I.D and locker key on your person when proceeding to the screening area
• Be mindful of the clothing you wear. Clothing with high volume of metal is likely to activate the walk through metal detector & this may lead to restrictions on the type of visit offered or even cancellation of a visit
• Please familiarise yourself with the information and instructional video available on the screen in the waiting room prior to entering the prison.

Prisoner Property

All private/personal property delivered to the prison on behalf of individual prisoners is done so entirely at the prisoner’s own risk. Neither the Governor nor the Irish Prison Service will accept liability for any such property lost, damaged or stolen whilst in transit, in delivery in storage, or in the possession of the prisoner. The Irish Prison Service can accept prisoner property at prison entrances, during family visits to the prison or by post.

The following table outlines a list of authorised items that can be delivered to a prison on behalf of individual prisoners:

The following items are prohibited and will not be accepted by the Irish Prison Service:

• Any clothing that resemble staff uniform items
• No hooded tops
• No steel toe-cap footwear
• Limited belt buckle size
• No ties, braces, sunglasses, hats, caps.
• No clothing with offensive logos (sexist, racial. drug, gang related) etc.
• Large rings
• Long or heavy neck chains
• Only one musical instrument is permitted per prisoner
• Toiletries – can be purchased via prison tuck shop
• No radios – in cell radios are in place
• Batteries
• Reading materials – these are provided by the library service in the prison

It is important to note that all items of private/personal property are subject to Governors permission. Different prisons have differing policies in relation to items a prisoner can have in their cell. This is a matter decided by the Governor of each prison taking into account the security environment in each prison. All items received into the prison will be subject to the necessary security screening.

If you have been approached or put under pressure to smuggle contraband into a prison, please inform an officer or make contact using the confidential phone line (1800 855 717)

All such instances will be treated in the strictest of confidence.