acquired brain injuries, deaf people, and the visually impaired.222 The report found that prisoners with disabilities experienced isolation in cells, limited availability of information on prison services, and limited opportunities to communicate with peers and family members.223 The general trends which emerged from the report included that prisoners with disabilities face hurdles navigating prison services and that they are being denied specific accessibility aids.224 Recommendations included in the report concerned access to adequate information on rights, regimes, and complaint systems in prisons.225 The recommendations also concerned access to single-cell accommodation, continuity of care between community and prison, and the indefinite banning of solitary confinement.226 The Executive Director of the IPRT stressed that people with disabilities in prison must have access to the entire physical prison environment on an equal basis with other prisoners.227 III.
The Irish Probation Service
The Probation Service is a state agency within the Department of Justice and Equality which works with offenders to reduce offending and make communities safer.228 The Probation Service assesses offenders for the criminal courts and presents the court with a report.229 Like within the Irish prison system, people with disabilities going through the Probation Service process also face substantial hurdles. For example, issues have been raised regarding the impact of professional practices on people with learning difficulties in the criminal justice system.230 Additionally, recent research has found that the prevalence of mental health problems and 222
Irish Penal Reform Trust, Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison (2020) <https://www.iprt.ie/site/assets/files/6611/people_with_disabilities_in_prison.pdf> accessed 20 November 2022. 223 Noel Baker, ‘Prisoners with disabilities feel they are being ‘punished’ because of their condition, report finds’ Irish Examiner (Dublin, 15 January 2020) available at: <https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid30975676.html> accessed 20 Nov 2021. 224 Noel Baker, ‘Prisoners with disabilities feel they are being ‘punished’ because of their condition, report finds’ Irish Examiner (Dublin, 15 January 2020) available at: <https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid30975676.html> accessed 20 Nov 2021. 225 Irish Penal Reform Trust, Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison (2020) <https://www.iprt.ie/site/assets/files/6611/people_with_disabilities_in_prison.pdf> accessed 10 January 2022. 226 Irish Penal Reform Trust, Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison (2020) <https://www.iprt.ie/site/assets/files/6611/people_with_disabilities_in_prison.pdf> accessed 10 January 2022. 227 Noel Baker, ‘Prisoners with disabilities feel they are being ‘punished’ because of their condition, report finds’ Irish Examiner (Dublin, 15 January 2020). 228 Citizens Information, ‘Probation Service’ (Citizens Information, 21 April 2020) <https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/probation_and_welfare_services/probation_service.html> accessed 20 November 2021. 229 Citizens Information, ‘Probation Service’ (Citizens Information, 21 April 2020) <https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/probation_and_welfare_services/probation_service.html> accessed 20 November 2021. 230 David Denney, ‘People with Learning Difficulties and Criminal Justice – A Role for the Probation Service’ (1998) 45(4) Probation Journal 194.
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