Mountjoy prisoners to receive direct phone calls in cells under pilot scheme
Darragh Mc Donagh
Family and friends of inmates serving time in Mountjoy Prison will be able to call them directly on landline telephones in their cells from next Monday as part of a pilot programme.
The inbound telephone system is being introduced for an initial period of three months at the Dóchas Centre for female offenders and the Training Unit, both of which are located on the Mountjoy campus.
It will allow listed family members and friends to ring in directly to a prisoner’s cell between 7:30am and 11pm with a view to enhancing inmates’ stability and rehabilitation.
However, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) has warned that the new system will be linked to a disciplinary process, and phone privileges may be reduced in the event of misuse or behaviour issues.
All inbound phone calls will also be recorded, and prisoners are limited to a maximum of two 10-minute inbound calls per day under the pilot programme, according to rules set out by the IPS.
Family members and friends included on a prisoner’s outbound call list will be able to phone them in their cells from Monday by dialling a prefix followed by their individual Prisoner Information Management System (PIMS) number.
Prisoners in the relevant cell will be notified who the call is for, and that inmate will then have to enter a unique PIN code to access the call. The number of the caller will also be displayed to the prisoner.
If they reject the call, a message will be relayed to the caller stating that their call has been declined. If the inmate is not in their cell, a message will inform the caller that they are not available.
If a prisoner has already used their inbound call allocation, the caller will be informed that their call cannot be connected for this reason.
The IPS has cautioned that the inbound call system is a privilege and not a statutory entitlement, and may be withdrawn for a number of reasons.
“If you receive an inbound phone call and another prisoner accepts the call on your behalf, this will count as one of your daily allocation and could lead to disciplinary sanctions for both,” it warned.
“Access to inbound telephone calls may be reduced from 14 to one call per week for a significant breach of discipline,” it added. “A serious breach may include… abuse of prison officials, assault, positive drug test, abuse of phone system, [or] damage to cell.”
The prison service said the new scheme would enhance family contact and offer greater family and friend support to prisoner stability and prisoner rehabilitation.
