Prisoner bed shortage: Concern about living conditions caused by prison overcrowding

A TOTAL of 10 inmates in Cork Prison have been left with no option but to sleep on mattresses on the floor of their cells as the facility struggles to cope with overcrowding.

An Irish Prison Service spokesperson confirmed the figure was as of September 29, 2023.

The Echo understands that each of the 10 prisoners was confined to cells with two other inmates, both of whom had beds.

Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Saoirse Brady described the measures as inhumane. “Repeatedly, Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has been sounding the alarm on overcrowding across the prison estate,” she told The Echo.

“In February of this year, we saw the combined capacity of prisons hit 100% and even though prisons are already full, this has continued to increase over the last number of months to reach 102% capacity.

“As these numbers continue to rise, news of 10 people sleeping on mattresses in Cork prison paints a stark picture of the extent of the issue.”

She warned of the long-term implications this may have for society: “No one should have to live in the conditions we’re hearing about.”

Ms Brady said the situation will only worsen as winter approaches.

“Overcrowding is not inevitable,” she said. “We saw welcome reductions in the use of imprisonment in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic response, but as we can see from more recent data, this has not been sustained, and we are back to business-as-usual as numbers accelerate.

“As we enter cold and flu season, with covid cases on the increase again, IPRT is even more concerned about the impact chronic overcrowding will have on people’s physical as well as their mental health.”

She expressed concern that policies are not mirroring the current reality.

“The Government has committed to considering enshrining the principle of ‘prison as a last resort’ in legislation,” she said.

“It has also committed to focusing on providing alternatives to prison, such as community-based sanctions, where appropriate.

“The policy position is there, but we can see by the growth in numbers of people in prison that the policy is far from the reality on the ground.

“We have another opportunity in front of us to resource solutions to the undignified conditions we’re hearing about.

“In order to reduce overcrowding, we’re calling on the Government to invest in alternative solutions, including the allocation of an additional €5m to the Probation Service to support greater use of community service orders and probation supervision.”

The organisation is calling for action from the Government.

“While the Irish Prison Service has an obligation to accept all people sent to it by the courts, imprisonment should only ever be used as a sanction of last resort,” she said.

“Unfortunately, there continues to be an over-reliance on short custodial sentences for people convicted of less serious offences, despite its damaging social and economic impact on individuals, families, and communities.

“IPRT also calls on the minister for justice to make immediate efforts to adequately resource the proposed progressive actions the Government outlined in August 2022, to ultimately reduce the number of people sent to prison, and support a move away from responses to offending that cause unnecessary further harm to people and their families”.

Irish Prison Service

Meanwhile, the Irish Prison Service addressed the situation in a statement issued to The Echo.

“The Prison Service have been working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure a safe working environment for staff and the safety and security of prisoners”, said a spokesperson.

“The Prison Service are taking a number of short- and medium-term steps to address the issue of increasing prison numbers.

“Government has provided significant capital funding to enhance existing prison infrastructure.”

The spokesperson listed the steps being taken to tackle overcrowding.

“The recent 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.

“This new male and female accommodation is now fully open and operational.

“The programme for government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform.

“In respect of delivering on this commitment, the Government approved the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024.

“This review seeks to find the balance between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community-based sanctions are more appropriate.

“In addition to delivering the recommendations of the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, the need to ensure the continued availability of modern prison facilities with adequate capacity will continue to 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.”

The spokesperson reiterated the Irish prison system’s commitment to tackling overcrowding.

“The former Minister for Justice Simon Harris announced last April that he had brought a memo to Government outlining capacity issues in prisons — both in terms of the scale of the problem faced and how we might progress medium- and longer-term solutions for it.

“Working with officials in the Department of Justice and the Prison Service, the minister has identified four short-term capital projects at the existing Castlerea, Cloverhill, the Midlands, and Mountjoy prisons that could deliver over 400 prison spaces over the next five years.

“That would provide accommodation for a minimum of 620 additional prisoners.

“The Department of Justice is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on this.”