Prisons are now full with inmates sleeping on f loor

IRISH prisons are full and 120 inmates across the country are sleeping on mattresses on the floor, it has emerged.

There are now more convicts than beds in our prisons, and the populations inside are ‘growing at a worrying rate’, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has warned.

The Irish Prison Service has confirmed there were 4,408 people in prisons yesterday with 120 prisoners sleeping on mattresses.

Last week, there were 4,416 people in prison and around 50 inmates on mattresses.

The IPRT said that the figures were of ‘grave concern’. Molly Joyce, activity executive director of the IPRT, said the number of people in prison ‘accelerated in 2022’ and is only expected to increase this year.

She said: ‘While there were some welcome reductions in the use of imprisonment in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, more recent data suggests that this has not been sustained and we are back to business as usual. The amount of people in prison accelerated in 2022 and the numbers are continuing to grow into 2023.’

Ms Joyce said that there continues to be an ‘over-reliance’ on imprisonment for people convicted of less serious offences, ‘despite its damaging social and economic impact on individuals, families, and communities’.

She added: ‘This is a watershed moment for Irish prisons. We now have a prison population that is growing at a worrying rate, and without strong action from the Government, the problems caused by this rapid rate of increase will continue... The number of people in prison can be reduced now by careful and structured use of temporary and early-release measures. In the longer term, measures to reduce Ireland’s prison population need to be adequately resourced and implemented.’

The IPRT is now calling on the Justice Minister to make immediate efforts to adequately resource the proposed actions in the recently published Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform. The trust said this would ultimately help reduce the number of people sent to prison.

In a statement, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said it ‘must accept all prisoners committed by the courts’, adding: ‘As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.

‘The prison system is subject to peaks and troughs. The Government has provided significant capital funding to the Irish Prison Service in order to enhance the existing prison infrastructure. The commissioning of a new male and female prison accommodation in Limerick Prison will provide an additional 90 male spaces and 22 additional female cell spaces. ’

In relation to the recently approved Review of Policy Options, the IPS said that delivering its recommendations will be central ‘to the work of the Irish Prison Service and will be core to the development of the new Irish Prison Service Capital Plan’.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said: ‘The Department of Justice and officials in the Irish Prisons Service are continuously working together to identify short-, medium- and longer-term proposals to help manage capacity issues in our prisons as they arise.’ It added: ‘Progress has already been made with the publication last August of the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024, the recommendations of which will likely have short-, medium- and longer-term impacts on the number of prisoners.’

‘Additional 90 male spaces’