The lack of gluten-free food, mashed potatoes served with every meal, cockroaches in cells and clothes shrinking in the laundry were among the complaints raised by inmates at Mountjoy Prison during 2024.
According to the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee’s (MPVC) 2024 annual report, which highlighted severe overcrowding, staff shortages are placing significant pressure on the system, with up to 35pc of prisoners held on protected status, reports RTE.
In its 27-page report submitted to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, the visiting committee said the overcrowding problem is intensifying, with the prison operating at 118% of capacity at the end of 2024.
The MPVC recommended that the Irish Prison Service address what it described as “the poor and often degrading prison conditions”, including overcrowding that forces men to use toilets in front of others in their cells, reports RTE.
The MPVC said that in many shared cells one prisoner is required to sleep on a mattress on the floor, either with his head beside the base of the cell toilet or close to the cell door, where there is a risk of being struck if the door has to be opened urgently.
In its report, the MPVC again stressed that housing two men in a cell designed for one person “is a very degrading and unhygienic environment for both men”, reports RTE.
The committee said that, more broadly, prisoners continue to endure poor cell conditions in certain areas of the prison, adding: “We have received complaints of wet cell wails, of cold cells, of broken toilets, of leaking sinks and of unhygienic conditions”.
The overcrowding situation deteriorated further in 2025, with the latest Irish Prison Service figures showing numbers in custody at 136% of capacity on 24 December, including 178 prisoners sleeping on mattresses on cell floors, reports RTE.
The MPVC said the number of complaints it received in 2024 rose by 46% to 373, compared with 256 complaints recorded in 2023.
The highest number of complaints, totalling 45, related to cells and accommodation, while 44 concerned visiting issues. A further 26 complaints were received from inmates about television channels, largely linked to the loss of certain channels from in-cell TVs, reports RTE.
The committee recorded eight complaints related to prison food, including “mash with every meal, gluten free food not available, no healthy breakfast option and chicken served too often”.
An equal number of complaints were made about the prison laundry, including issues such as “clothes shrunk from laundry or returned with burn marks”, reports RTE.
In relation to hygiene, five complaints were received, including reports of “cockroaches in cell. Dead pigeon on window ledge of cells”.
The MPVC also logged 14 complaints under the category of “Other”, which included “general unhappiness with how being treated; frequency of phone calls; loss of minor benefits; unhappy with poor conditions in the prison, in particular constant curtailment of services due to staff shortages”, reports RTE.
Ten complaints were received under the heading of ‘Visitors Refused’, arising from issues such as “Visitors refused for failing swab test; visitors barred from visiting due to several swab test failures; complaints about use and validity of swabbing of visitors”.
Nineteen complaints were made in relation to education, including “school regularly closed; lack of consistent schooling – only 45 minutes per week over last three weeks; maximum 2 x 1 hour school per week; no laptops for many doing Open University courses and no in-cell education available”, reports RTE.
Five complaints were recorded under “Pre-release preparation and fear of homelessness”, including concerns such as “little help available for transition back into society, feeling unprepared for release; concerns regarding resettlement and fears for safety; that only hostel accommodation will be available which is considered a dangerous environment”.
Elsewhere, the report noted that during 2024 around one third of Mountjoy prisoners were held under a restrictive regime due to fears of self-harm or the risk of harm from others, reports RTE.
The majority of these prisoners spend between 21 and 22 hours per day locked in their cells for their own protection.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
