OVERCROWDING IN some prisons is so acute it is in danger of causing serious injury or loss of life, the Inspector of Prisons has warned.
In his first full report, Judge Michael Reilly found dozens of prisoners were regularly sleeping on floors or parts of prisons such as reception areas that were never designed for accommodation.
He also said the extent of overcrowding was worse than has been indicated by prison authorities. This was because official bed capacity figures were based on prisoners “doubling up” in cells originally designed for a single inmate.
For example, Mountjoy Prison was designed for 489 prisoners, whereas the bed capacity used by prison authorities was 573. On one occasion last year the population in the prison reached 660. This, he said, resulted in almost 50 prisoners on one night sleeping on mattresses on floors or in inappropriate areas.
“I was so concerned at the situation that I wrote on February 27th, 2009, to the Department and to the Irish Prison Service expressing my fear that this practice could lead to possible serious injury or loss of life,” Judge Reilly said in his 2008 annual report.
He added: “If the prison population equated with the stated bed capacity of our prisons one might assume that overcrowding was not an issue. This is far from the truth.”
Similar overcrowding was evident in Cork Prison and Limerick Women’s Prison, he said.
By contrast, the annual report of the Irish Prison Service released yesterday did not mention overcrowding and said most prisons were operating “at or near full capacity” during 2008.
It said 400 additional prison places were due to come into service during 2008 in Castlerea, Wheatfield and Portlaoise prisons. While negotiations to build a 1,400-bed prison at Thornton Hall broke down earlier this year, prison authorities said a revised plan would be put out to tender next year.
Judge Reilly also raised concern at the proportion of prisoners who are placed on “protection” for their own safety. These prisoners are often locked up for up to 23 hours a day. At one point last year, he said, 22 per cent of prisoners were on protection.
“The existence of gangs in Irish society has escalated into the prison system and this is a huge cause of intimidation and violence amongst prisoners,” he said.