Ireland’s prison system has been described as “overwhelmed, overstretched and inhumane” in the 2024 Progress in the Penal System report published by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT).
The report revealed that the prison population passed 5,000 for the first time in June last year, while 213 prisoners were forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor by the end of 2024, reports RTE.
IPRT Executive Director Saoirse Brady has warned, however, that conditions have worsened significantly since the data for the latest report was collected.
Appearing on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Brady revealed that of the current 5,700 people in custody, more than 600 are now sleeping on floor mattresses – three times the figure recorded at the end of last year, reports RTE.
She explained that although IPRT researchers did not visit every prison, “a lot of the research is actually based on the evidence that’s available to us.”
During visits to Mountjoy Prison, for instance, inspectors saw cells containing a bunk bed plus mattresses on the floor.
“There’s very little floor space. You’re talking about a cell that’s really the size of a car parking space…
“And the person who draws a short straw and has to sleep on the floor, has to sleep with their head beside an open toilet that other people have to use in the middle of the night”, she said, adding that “62% of people have to use the toilet in front of another person” which is “inhumane.”, reports RTE.
Ms Brady pointed out that both the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the Office of the Inspector of Prisons have repeatedly highlighted these issues.
She stressed that dangerously high occupancy rates now exist in every prison across the State, reports RTE.
“The Irish Prison Service would say that a safe, the maximum capacity that they should have to operate prison safely is 95%, yet yesterday we were running at 123% and that rose to 164% capacity in Limerick Women’s Prison and over 150% in the Dóchas Centre, which is the Dublin women’s prison.”
Ms Brady emphasised that the Irish Prison Service cannot be held solely responsible for the crisis, reports RTE.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of people going into prison from homelessness.
“We’ve seen people going in with clear addiction issues, but they don’t get the support that they need in prison because they’re in for such a short period of time.
Ms Brady argued that custody must be treated as a genuine last resort, “enshrined in law and implemented in practice.”, reports RTE.
She added: “We need to see fewer people going to prison for less serious crimes, and we need to see more community-based sanctions available to them.”
She welcomed the fact that the Minister for Justice has put forward plans to expand community service for offences that would otherwise attract sentences of up to two years.
“That will help, but it must be implemented as a matter of urgency,” she said, reports RTE.
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