asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many female prisoners were in Northern Ireland prisons in each of the months February and March;(2) how many female remand prisoners were held in Northern Ireland prisons in each of the months of February and March; how many of these prisoners were subjected to strip searching in each month; and how many times each female remand prisoner was strip-searched.

The information requested is as follows:

	Remand	Sentenced	Total Female Population
February 1985	12	27	39
March 1985	12	31	43

The figures include those detained in the young offender's centre, in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh.During February 1985, nine remand prisoners were strip-searched; six were searched twice and three were searched once. During March 1985, five remand prisoners were strip-searched; four were searched twice and one was searched once.