GARDAI are still searching for a remand prisoner who absconded while on day release from Mountjoy women's prison on Tuesday.
The woman, believed to be 27 and from Ballymun, Dublin, was being taken to visit her child who is in care in Blanehardstown when she escaped. It is believed she was tried for attempted robbery and is on remand awaiting sentencing.
Last week two women escaped while on an outing from Mountjoy. They returned voluntarily.
The governor of Mountjoy Prison, Mr John Lonergan, said yesterday that the advice from social workers and other professionals was that in the case of young women in prison who had children it was best to try to continue the relationship between mother and child. That was the humane thing to do, he said.
"We try to facilitate that and have been doing so for many years, and I believe have been overwhelmingly successful in doing that."
However he added that normal outings will be put on hold pending a review.
The woman prisoner was in the custody of one male and one female prison officer when she escaped at about 4.15 p.m. on Tuesday from the Roselawn, Health Centre in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.