Call for investment in prison alternatives amid overcrowding crisis
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The Government has been warned that a failure to invest in alternatives to prison means the money needed to increase prison spaces will be a drain on the State for years to come.
The warning comes from the Irish Penal Reform Trust, as accommodation pressure continues across the prison estate.
On Monday, there were 4,946 inmates across the state, which has a total bed capacity for 4,516 prisoners. A total of 492 inmates were on temporary release, a measure which is used increasingly to relieve overcrowding.
The most overcrowded facilities were the female wing at Limerick, which is over capacity by 45%, while Mountjoy’s female wing, Dochas, was operating at 125% capacity.
In a statement to the , IPRT executive director Saoirse Brady said: “The Prison Visiting Committees 2022 annual reports, as in previous years, highlight the inappropriate nature of prison settings for people with high-level mental health with long waiting lists to access necessary services. While these reports provide important insights into life behind the high prison walls, they are already outdated given the marked increase in the prison population since they were completed, so many of the issues they note may in fact have deteriorated further in the interim.”
She said the IPRT is urging the government to “make a substantial and meaningful investment to deliver on key commitments for people in the criminal justice system” in next month’s budget.
She added: “The prison system across the country is creaking under the weight of severe overcrowding and unfortunately, in the absence of adequate quality mental health and addiction treatment services in the community, prison has become the default option for people who experience these challenges.
“Imprisonment, while necessary in some cases, in many other cases is an ineffective, counterproductive and hugely expensive response to offending. Instead of aiming to expand prison space, IPRT calls for smarter and more effective investment in supporting and championing effective alternatives to prison and promoting diversion for people with mental health or addiction issues where this is possible and appropriate.“
She said: “The IPRT believes that if financial resources and political will are not invested in supporting and championing effective alternatives to prison, the resources needed to continually increase the prison estate will be a financial and social drain on the State for decades to come.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said that there are engagements between her department and the Irish Prison Service “to progress plans to bring new spaces for over 1,100 people on stream between 2024 and 2030 with short term projects progressing, that are expected to deliver accommodation for over 170 people this year”.
She has also established a working group on future prison capacity, which, she said, “will consider future capacity requirements, including quantities and types of accommodation”.
She also said the group will make recommendations on the future use of the site at Thornton Hall and “the role it can play in providing additional and modern prison accommodation”.