Fourfold increase in prisoners sleeping on floor as officials warn of safety risks in Mountjoy

The number of prisoners sleeping on the floor in Mountjoy Prison has quadrupled since the start of the year, with staff warning of serious safety risks as a result.

Following several years of declining populations, partly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Irish prisons are now at 104 per cent capacity, or 4,583 inmates. Mountjoy Prison in Dublin has 827 prisoners and is operating at 110 per cent capacity.

There are currently 194 prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor, a fourfold increase since January. Almost half of these (85) are in Mountjoy.

Throughout 2022, the average number sleeping on the floor across prisons was 39.

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It is understood prison officials are considering purchasing bunk beds to alleviate the problem.

Prison staff have warned that overcrowding, particularly in Mountjoy, is placing staff and inmates at risk.

In an internal email, seen by The Irish Times, a medical official warned that the practice of prisoners sleeping on mattresses could result in a delay in treatment for inmates who are unresponsive.

The mattresses block staff from opening the door, meaning guards have to ask one of the prisoners inside to move it, in order to gain entry.

“How are staff going to gain access to the cell” if both prisoners are under the influence of drugs, the medical official wrote.

“God forbid but if two prisoners had an overdose... how would access be gained?

“This could end up in a life-or-death situation, while I am hoping this will never be the case. A prisoner on a mattress on the ground gives massive rise for concern.”

An additional concern, the official said, was that prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the ground may allege they were assaulted as a result of being hit by the door as a guard enters their cell. Such an incident has already occurred, they said.

This leaves officers at risk of being falsely accused of assault, they said. “I know we are in challenging time with capacity but I feel from a safety perspective I have to highlight my concerns for all.”

One prison source said overdoses and psychotic episodes among prisoners in Mountjoy are becoming more regular. “There will be a major disturbance in Mountjoy if they keep packing them in,” they said.

The source said efforts to achieve single-cell occupancy in the prison “has taken a step back 15 years”.

“The Joy [Mountjoy] has been manageable with single cell occupancy but doubling up again, after it was eradicated, in a 173-year-old building is going to end up in tragedy,” they said.

Overcrowding is worse in the Dóchas Centre women’s prison which, with 172 prisoners, is operating at 118 per cent capacity.

Limerick men’s prison, which was recently expanded, is at 130 per cent capacity (274 prisoners) while Limerick women’s prison is at 175 per cent (49 prisoners).

The Irish Prison Service said the system is subject to “peaks and troughs” and that it must accept all prisoners sent to it by the courts. A spokesman said the service tries to address overcrowding by “structured temporary release” and transfers between prisons.

“We have been working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure a safe working environment for staff and the safety and security of prisoners in our custody and we are taking a number of short- and medium-term steps to address the issue of increasing prison numbers,” the spokesman said.