Cork Prison’s 365 inmates another record high

Cork Prison reached another record high number of inmates yesterday, operating at 123% capacity, with 365 people.

The prison has 296 beds, meaning 69 people are sleeping on the floor, and a prison officer previously told The Echo that, due to the high number of cases currently going through the courts, these numbers are expected to continue rising before Christmas.

There are 69 prisoners on temporary release from Cork Prison.

There are 5,086 people in custody in Irish prisons, which have 4,519 beds. The system is operating at 113% capacity, with Cork the most overcrowded, aside from the two women’s prisons in Limerick and Dublin. More than 12% of prisoners who are without beds are in Cork, despite Cork Prison representing just 6.5% of Ireland’s prison capacity.

A spokesperson for The Irish Prison Service told The Echo that it must accept into custody all people committed by the courts, and “has no control over the numbers committed to custody”.