LAST UPDATE | 25 Apr

OVERCROWDING IN IRISH prisoners is leading to an “unsafe and unworkable” environment, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has said. 

The POA is holding its annual delegate conference in Sligo today. 

The Association has said there are now over 1,000 additional prisoners in the system since 2019, but that there has been a real capacity increase of just 43 spaces.

“Today, the number of prisoners in custody is about to reach a staggering 5,000. That is an incredible 25% increase on the figure of 5 years ago. And needless to say, there has not been a commensurate increase in prison spaces to deal with this explosion in numbers,” POA president Tony Power said. 

There was a total of 4,904 people in custody in Ireland yesterday. 

“In an overcrowded system, without adequate access to services, management are hindering our good work and impacting directly on the potential rehabilitation of prisoners. And they are directly contributing to an unsafe and unworkable environment,” he said. 

Power said that Cork Prison, the most modern prison in the Irish estate, has gone from housing 287 prisoners 12 motnhs ago to 352 prisoners in February this year. He said that up to 52 prisoners are now sleeping on floors. 

On 3 April, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee announced that the Government has secured funding to provide space for up to 670 additional prisoners.

Under the National Development Plan for justice projects, McEntee has secured an additional capital funding of €93 million. 

Of the €93 million funding allocation, €49.5 million is being allocated to the Irish Prison Service between this year and 2026 to further increase prison capacity and address current capacity constraints in the prison estate.

Preparatory work is to commence this year on four projects in Cloverhill, Castlerea, Midlands and Mountjoy prisons, with construction expected to start on a phased basis between 2025 and 2027.

When completed, space for up to 670 prisoners will be created.

The Department of Justice said the Irish Prison Service is also currently advancing a number of short term projects which separately have the potential to provide an additional 95 spaces in 2024.

Power said today that the Irish prison systems “needs a solution now, not another promise or announcement”. 

The Journal reported last November of claims that the Irish Prison Service is using temporary release services to relieve continued overcrowding in the prison system.

As of yesterday, there were more than 5,590 people registered in the Irish prison system, even though the system only has capacity for just over 4,500 people. 

This figure accounts for all people currently registered in the Irish prison system, including prisoners in custody, on any form of temporary release, those receiving treatment in hospital or those in the Central Mental Hospital.

One source told The Journal in November that the Irish Prison Service is using these services to release inmates back into communities under supervision in a bid to tackle overcrowding.

Speaking at the conference today, Power said there has been an “increase in contraband finding its way into our prisons”. 

He said that drone deliveries of drugs into prisons are an “almost daily occurrence in most prisons”. 

With reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill