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Independent TD, Carol Nolan, has criticised the ongoing failure of the Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) to produce a clear, legally grounded policy on the management of transgender prisoners, adding that her latest PQ reply on the matter demonstrates exactly why her co‑sponsored Gender Recognition (Amendment) (Prisons) Bill 2023 remains urgently needed.
And she says that in the absence of any clarity, she is looking at reintroducing a bill which sought to “restore biological reality to prison placement decisions”.
The “paralysis on transgender prisoner policy highlights urgent need for single‑sex safeguards,” the Offaly TD said.
The issue of hosting biological males in women’s prisons came to significant public attention around the case of Barbie Kardashian a serial offender who was jailed in 2023 for making graphic threats to torture, rape, and murder his mother, and who was housed amongst female prisoners in Limerick prison. Similar to other cases before the courts in Ireland and elsewhere, Kardashian has obtained a gender recognition certificate, obtainable by swearing an affidavit, which means he can legally call himself a woman and demand to be placed in a woman’s prison.
Last month, a Scottish judge ruled that housing transgender women in women’s prisons is unlawful, following a legal challenge by the campaign group For Women Scotland. In this jurisdiction, campaign group The Countess has called for the Gender Recognition Act to be amended to exclude prisons in order to prevent violent men, in particular sex offenders, being houses with vulnerable women.
Deputy Nolan made her remakes this week after Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan confirmed to her that despite repeated commitments since early 2023, the IPS has still not finalised or published a policy, and cannot provide any timeline for completion:
“The Government has spent years consulting, reviewing, and ‘mapping practical steps’ yet it still cannot produce a basic operational policy. Meanwhile, frontline prison staff are left to manage extremely sensitive and high‑risk situations, particularly those involving biological males being placed in women’s prisons. This is not a serious approach to public safety or to the rights of biological women in custody,” the Offaly TD said.
Deputy Nolan said the ministers reply also underscores a fundamental issue, namely that Irish prisons continue to accommodate prisoners according to their legal gender, even though Prison Rule 52 requires male and female prisoners to be housed separately.
“The Minister’s own reply confirms that prisons are not legally defined as male or female institutions, yet Rule 52 requires separation of male and female prisoners. This contradiction is precisely why our Bill was introduced, to ensure that biological sex, not self‑declared gender identity, determines placement in order to protect women’s safety.”
Deputy Nolan said the Government’s failure to act has created a policy vacuum:
“Right now, Governors are forced to rely on ad‑hoc risk assessments under Rule 63. That is not a sustainable or just policy. Women in custody, many of whom are extremely vulnerable, deserve the protection of single‑sex accommodation.”
Deputy Nolan added that the Gender Recognition (Amendment) (Prisons) Bill 2023, which she co‑sponsored alongside several Independent TDs, was designed precisely to address this gap by amending the Gender Recognition Act 2015 to ensure single‑sex accommodation in prisons:
“Our Bill was a straightforward, common‑sense measure to restore biological reality to prison placement decisions. It recognised that safeguarding women is not discrimination; it is basic decency and common sense. Although our Bill did lapse with the previous Dáil, I had hoped that some semblance of rational policy making, as opposed to a policy based on the whims of gender ideology might have prevailed. Since that has not happened it is likely the Bill will have to be reintroduced to force a sense of urgency on Government to address this issue.”
“The Government cannot continue to hide behind endless consultations. It must publish a policy that respects biological sex, protects women, and provides certainty for staff. Anything less is not only a dangerous dereliction of duty, it reinforces the impression that the safety of women is a distant second to ideological conformity,” Deputy Nolan said.
In his response, the Minister said that “the Irish Prison Service are continuing to work towards finalising a policy document for the management of prisoners who identify as transgender and have extended the project to consider the supports for gender diversity in the prison environment more broadly.”
“This work has included consultation with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, consideration of submissions received from interest groups, consultation with the Office of the Inspector of Prisons, and consideration of guidelines published by the Committee for Prevention of Torture, and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment & Punishment (CPT). The IPS are continuing to engage with other prison jurisdictions to gain learning and insight into their policies and experiences in order to inform the mapping of practical steps necessary to implement the policy before finalising the document.”
“As background for the Deputy, Prison Rules, 2007 (S.I. No. 252/2007) set out the minimum rules and regulations on all aspects of life in prisons in Ireland, including admission, accommodation, visiting rights, health, discipline, education, and so forth. Much of the daily operation of prisons is guided by the Prison Rules. The Prison Service is responsible for the safe and secure custody of all persons held in prison,” he added.
“Where a court makes an order committing a person to a prison, the Irish Prison Service must accept that person into custody in whichever prison is specified by the court. While all prisoners committed are accommodated in accordance with their legal gender, it should be noted that Irish prisons are not legally defined as ‘male’ or ‘female’ prisons. However, Prison Rule 52 provides for male and female prisoners to be accommodated in separate areas. Given this, for operational reasons, some prisons are referred to as male or female prisons.”
“On arrival in prison, all prisoners are brought to the reception/committal unit of the prison, where there is an opportunity to provide details as part of the committal interview process.”
“As part of that process and in assessing the needs of a prisoner, the Prison Governor will consider the risks posed to the prisoner themselves and any level of risk to other prisoners. This risk assessment will determine the regime necessary to ensure the safety of all prisoners and may include the accommodation of the prisoner on a restricted regime under Rule 63 of the Prison Rules. The Governor may also make a recommendation on the appropriate placement within the prison system, taking into consideration good order, security and operational issues, protection issues, available accommodation and the healthcare needs of the prisoner, as well as the safety and security of other prisoners and staff.”
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