KEY POINTS:
The department of Corrections is again under pressure after the dismissal of two Ngawha Prison staff for serious misconduct and allegations of prison officers having sex with inmates at Waikeria.
The department has been beset with problems this year, with 20 staff on stand-down for inappropriate and unethical behaviour.
On top of that, Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor has ordered an investigation into allegations of corrupt behaviour at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo and Rimutaka Prison.
Now Waikeria Prison is in the spotlight, with O'Connor facing parliamentary questions about inappropriate conduct by staff.
National's Simon Power has been told of allegations of staff having sex with inmates, staff providing inmates with P and mobile phones and officers taking home firewood that had been bought for the prison.
O'Connor has not yet responded to the allegations.
However, it appears Waikeria, Auckland Prison and Rimutaka Prison are not the only correctional facilities with issues.
Last week Corrections confirmed two staff members at Ngawha had been sacked for offences that were "in breach of their employee obligations". Corrections refused to be more specific, saying only that those offences could include such things as theft, fraud, falsifying documents and abuse of sick leave.
Neither of the dismissals related to inappropriate relationships with inmates.
The department, however, fended off Power's claims about an alleged improper relationship between one of its contractors and the partner of a paroled former inmate.
Corrections' northern regional manager Jeanette Burns told the Herald on Sunday in a statement that the department was aware of the allegation, but had spoken with the contractor, who denied any such relationship had occurred.
The contractor was not an employee and the alleged relationship was not with an offender so the department had no authority to take the matter further, she said.
She stressed that Corrections took allegations of inappropriate relationships between staff and offenders very seriously.
The boundaries staff members must maintain were clearly stated in the department's code of conduct, which all employees had to sign before working for Corrections.
Since opening in April 2005 Ngawha Prison has faced numerous problems, including cracks in the cell walls, concerns about the relative inexperience of some staff members - and issues relating to the smuggling of contraband.
An investigation is still also being carried out after a prisoner was accused of using a baby as a shield so he could have oral sex.
The female visitor has since been banned from the prison.
