13 of State's 15 prisons are overcrowded

ALL BUT two of the State’s 15 prisons are overcrowded, with some operating more then 25 per cent above their bed capacity, according to new figures obtained by Fine Gael.

The statistics show that Loughan House open prison, Co Cavan, and Portlaoise prison, Co Laois, are the only two jails in the system where the number of inmates does not exceed bed capacity.

The number of inmates in Loughan House, at 127, is three fewer than the bed capacity of 130. In Portlaoise there are 105 prisoners in a jail that can hold 210.

Portlaoise is a maximum security prison where dissident republican prisoners and major gangland figures are held. The prison population is always kept low so staff can more easily manage the dangerous inmates and because different republican factions must be segregated.

Fine Gael’s spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan said prison overcrowding caused tensions that led to violence. Rehabilitation was impossible in overcrowded jails, where many inmates were fine defaulters rather than serious criminals.

“A recent riot in Mountjoy was undoubtedly fuelled by overcrowding. The obvious step for Minister [for Justice Dermot] Ahern to take now is to introduce the Fines Bill which would immediately reduce the pressure on prisons in respect of numbers of inmates.”

He said space was at such a premium across the system that prisoners were sleeping on floors.

Overall, there are 3,790 prisoners in jails with a bed capacity of 3,611 across the system. Prisons hold an average 5 per cent more prisoners than they have beds for.

The figures obtained by Fine Gael from the Department of Justice are based on a snapshot of the prison population on March 9th.

In the woman’s Dochas Centre prison in Mountjoy, 108 inmates are being held at a facility with a maximum bed capacity of 85. In the men’s prison at Mountjoy, there are 633 prisoners and there is a bed capacity of 540.

At the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, there are 498 inmates with a bed capacity of 469. In Wheatfield Prison, Dublin, there are 390 prisoners and a bed capacity of 416.

Other prisons, including Cork and Limerick, are similarly overcrowded.