Number of foreign nationals jailed rises

A quarter of those sent to prison last year were foreign nationals, despite the fact that immigration related detentions are falling, the annual report from the Irish Prison Service (IPS) indicates.

A total of 2,185 from outside the State were sent to prison last year, compared with 1,804 in 2004. This represents an increase from 20 per cent of those imprisoned in 2004 to 25 per cent last year.

The report, published yesterday, also says sentences are getting longer and, despite the fact slightly fewer people are being committed, the prison population will almost certainly increase as a result.

In total, 8,686 people were imprisoned last year compared with 8,820 in 2004 - a slight decrease of 1.5 per cent.

Some 47.7 per cent of those committed were being sentenced following trials, as opposed to being imprisoned on remand.

Almost 90 per cent (7,780) were men and 10 per cent (906) were women. There was a small reduction in the overall prison average daily population, from 3,199 in 2004 to 3,151 last year.

However, there was a 5 per cent increase in the proportion of foreign nationals imprisoned. The report says this "is an unexpected rise at a time when immigration related detentions are falling.

"It is attributable to an increase in the number of non-nationals committed on remand [ie awaiting trial]." Some 860, or 40 per cent of these foreign nationals were imprisoned for short periods under immigration laws. Those foreign nationals committed came predominantly from Europe, outside the EU (1,066 - 912 men and 154 women). Among the other nationalities, 425 were from Africa (357 men and 68 women), 257 from Asia (203 men and 54 women) and 100 from Central or South America (82 men and 18 women).

Sentences are getting longer, the report notes. The number of sentences lasting more than one year were up by 35 per cent to 1,144 compared with 845 in 2004. "At the same time the number of sentences of less than one year fell from 4,219 to 3,944, a reduction of 7 per cent."

The number of sentences of 10 or more years also increased from 30 in each of 2004 and 2003, to 35 last year.

Most of the prisons operated at full or near-full capacity. Mount- joy and Castlerea prisons both operated at over-capacity (102 per cent). The male prison at Mountjoy had a daily average population of 488, with a bed capacity of 480. Its women's prison, the Dochas Centre, had a daily average population of 87 with a bed capacity of 85. Castlerea had a daily average of 210 prisoners with a bed capacity of 206. There were three escapees from the prisons in 2005 "all from the Dochas Centre".

There were eight deaths in custody last year. "Inquest verdicts were returned in four cases [ natural causes, death by misadventure, open verdict and accidental death]. Initial indications suggest that two of the other four deaths may have been by way of suicide."

The report notes the Inspector of Prisons has called for the closing of St Patrick's Institution. "The Irish Prison Service fully agrees that Patrick's is no longer a suitable setting for custodial and care services for young people . . . The only sustainable solution is to close St Patrick's and provide new accommodation and facilities." It also notes the concerns raised by the inspector "about people with personality disorders being sent to prison".

The IPS welcomes the plan to site the new Central Mental Hospital on the site of the new prison at Thornton Hall. "The new hospital will be proximate to the major prison complexes in the Dublin area and should assist greatly in meeting the in-patient psychiatric needs of prisoners."