The Government did not build sufficient prison spaces to keep pace with the expanding population of the State, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said, suggesting courts should opt for fewer custodial sentences.
Speaking at the Prison Officers Association (POA) annual conference in Co Kilkenny on Thursday, O’Callaghan said the solution to overcrowding was a “combination of building more spaces and increasing the non-custodial sentences” given to offenders.
After the POA said on Thursday that the level of overcrowding in prisons in the State was tantamount to a “national scandal”, O’Callaghan said he understood the frustration of prison officers.
“We should have kept prison capacity in line with the population increase. We didn’t,” he said, noting that it was his responsibility to secure extra prison spaces and that he was committed to increasing capacity across the State.
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However, he said building was not the only way resolve the overcrowding crisis, and suggested that legislation aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions could help: “That’s something that the courts need to be more aware of.”
“Overcrowding is a complex issue. There’s no quick solution to it. I have put in place a building programme that should have been put in place years ago, but it has been put in place now,” the minister said.
The building programme “will result in 1,500 spaces coming on stream between now and 2030″, he said, and noted that 960 of these bed spaces had been passed through public spending guidelines on an expedited basis.
A total of 6,648 prisoners are currently in the prison system, including those on temporary release or on remand, far above the 4,747 inmate capacity of the prison system. The number in custody is 5,826.
[ Prison officers warn chronic overcrowding is making job ‘truly impossible’Opens in new window ]
O’Callaghan said there needed to be a “recognition by the courts, as well, that the imposition of custodial sentences isn’t necessary in every instance”.
“But I have to be honest with you, there is no easy solution to this,” he said, and ruled out mirroring the UK move to cut serious sentences “across the board” to reduce pressure on prisons.
“That would be – I think – a denial of the rights of victims who have gone through the process of going through the courts and getting justice, and then for me to turn around and to cut sentences for serious offences – I’m not prepared to do that.”
Separately, O’Callaghan said it was “embarrassing” that technology needed to enable prisoner tagging had still not been implemented. Tagging, he said, could contribute to resolving the overcrowding issue.
The minister had previously admitted the delays were a cause of embarrassment and had committed to seeing the introduction of the technology.
