By C1 Staff
MOUNTJOY — The 160 stab vests allocated to correctional officers in Irish prisons are being kept under close review.
The Irish Times reports that recent knife attacks against correctional staff by inmates have reached a critical level, which made stab vests necessary.
Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said her department was working very closely with the Prison Officers Association to ensure that prison officers have stab vests when they need them.
“Of course you can’t eliminate risk completely in the prison service and it’s inherently a service that’s dealing with people where there are high levels of violence,” Fitzgerald said.
“But we’ve already produced approximately 160 stab vests for prison officers and that will be kept under review.”