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The Journal
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Journal
How does Ireland's prison overcrowding crisis compare to other European countries?
EUROPE'S PRISON POPULATION is increasing, with many countries around the continent, including Ireland, experience dangerous levels of overcrowding. According to analysis of the latest data from Eurostat, Europe's central statistics database, there was a 3.2% increase in the continent's prison population in 2023. That year, 13 countries in Europe were experiencing overcrowding. Very high levels of incarcerations were also recorded between 1993 and 2023. In Ireland, where prison capacity on Friday was recorded at a level of 117% , the issue with overcrowding has been deemed a crisis by legal experts, staff unions and senior sources within the Irish penal system. An increase in the number of judges , changes to legislation and sentencing guidelines, as well as underinvestment into the prison estate in the country have been contributing factors to the crisis. The Eurostat data shows, however, that this trend has been occurring across EU member states over a 30-year period. At its peak in 2012, prisons in Europe were accommodating 533,000 people. Government has initiated an expansion plan for the construction of 1,500 new places – but industry associations like the Irish Prison Officers Association believe that 'building out' of the problem is not the solution. Speaking at an event in May, President of the association Tony Power said that investments must be made into the existing system to provide more spaces. Staff should not be 'expected' to work in overcrowded conditions, he added. Mattresses on the floor in Europe Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has pledged to find ways to accelerate the delivery of more prison spaces . Advertisement A senior source at the service previously told The Journal that building more spaces, given the timescale involved in capital projects, is not seen as an option. This has led to an increase in the number of people sleeping on the floor in Irish facilities , something the Irish Penal Reform Trust deeply condemns. These figures are so high that the service started recording them in official daily statistics this year. On Friday, 404 people were sleeping on mattresses the ground in Irish prisons. French prison population levels reached record highs in March as a total of 82,152 people – roughly the same size of a full house at Croke Park – were in custody in French prisons that month. The official capacity is 62,539. More than 4,500 people were sleeping on the floor at French facilities – 15 of which are at 200% capacity. Deportations and releases France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has called for the deportation of foreign prisoners so that they can serve their sentences in their home nations. In Ireland, however, the Irish Penal Reform Trust has called for imprisonment to be regarded as a 'last resort' and for alternative measures , such as community service or supervised temporary release, to be encouraged. The Irish Prison Service has increased the population of prisoners on temporary release , which sees the supervised release of low-level, non-violent offenders serving sentences outside of prison under strict conditions. The State has been criticised for allowing the temporary release scheme as a pressure valve to overcrowding, but sources in the prison management say the programme is the only way it can maintain safe population levels at facilities in the country. In Austria, experts say prison sentences are still too common and, often, people are committed for minor offences. Facilities in the country are at 108% capacity, as of May. Access to rehabilitative care In Spain, the country has adopted a more rehabilitative approach. It allows prisoners a gradual transition to more open regimes, based on their behaviour and risk of re-offending. Similar programmes are available in Ireland . Data from Spain shows that 80% of people released from prison do not return to crime. Related Reads Court escorts for prisoners at risk due to overcrowding, Irish prisons boss warns Fears within prison service that prison overcrowding increasing risk of violence and rioting New ankle monitors could be an alternative to being held on remand, Irish prisons boss says Overcrowding is reducing the population's access to services in Ireland . Sources have said that offenders placed on supervised release or short sentences are, sometimes, not provided with any rehabilitative care. The head of the Irish Prison Service told reporters last month that up to 2,000 prisoners are currently on waiting lists to access psychology support services. Director General Caron McCaffrey said there are also smaller waiting lists for other services, such as addiction therapy, education and training programmes. She said a 'whole of government approach' is needed to boost services such as education, training and therapy in prisons. Responding to questions by The Journal in May, she admitted that people are sometimes released before receiving care. High levels of overcrowding at prisons in Austria is leading to similar issues to what is seen in Ireland, where prisoners outnumber support staff. The European Court of Auditors recently criticised Vienna's lack of investment. Changes are being led from prison management, however, to boost rehabilitation resources in Irish prisons. Existing staff are being upskilled and trained on methods to provide and assist in the care of prisoners with mental health issues. Additionally, a peer-led, pilot programme has been launched in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison which trains and educates prisoners on providing addiction care to others. — This article is part of PULSE, a European collaborative journalism project. With reporting by Maria Delaney (The Journal Investigates, Ireland), Davide Madeddu (Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy), Kim Son Hoang (Der Standard, Austria) and Ana Somavilla (El Confidencial, Spain) as well as translation services by Ciarán Lawless (Voxeurop). Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
04-05-2025
- The Journal
Fears within prison service that prison overcrowding increasing risk of violence and rioting
Inside an Irish prison. The number of people sleeping on mattresses on the floor breached 350 earlier this week. POA POA SENIOR SOURCES WITHIN the Irish Prison Service have said severe overcrowding has increased the risk of rioting within Dublin prisons. It is the working belief of the Irish Prison Service that overcrowding levels are so high that a violent incident is extremely likely to take place within one of the densely populated facilities in Dublin, one senior prison service source said. Overcrowding levels in Irish prisons have not been as high since 2009, when there were more than 13,500 people in custody . Towards the end of that year, at the height of an overcrowding crisis, between 15 and 20 prisoners armed with wood and metal bars became involved in an altercation with others in Mountjoy prison. A number people were later convicted for the riot . The source pointed to the 2009 incident as evidence that extreme levels of overcrowding increase the risk of violence, adding that current risk level is high as it has been in decades. Nationwide overcrowding in prisons is a major cause for concern among staff and officers according to the Irish Prison Officers' Association (POA), which has called for action to resolve the overcrowding crisis as soon as possible. POA President Tony Power said many prison officers believe that with hot weather expected in the city this summer and cramped conditions within Irish prisons, tensions inside between people in custody will begin to rise. 'The problem is that we've nowhere to put people,' Power told The Journal at the POA conference in Galway this week. 'If there is a riot in Mountjoy and we've to move 20 people to Midlands Prison, it means we have to move 20 people out of the Midlands [to make room]. That can't work.' Advertisement A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said it does not comment on operational or security matters. Officers working in over-crowded prisons have described the situation as a 'shit show'. The POA this week expressed concern over the level of contraband coming into prisons, with growing worry among officers that a firearm might be smuggled in . There is a total of 4,666 beds in the Irish prison system, with about 300 beds ideally kept free to ensure safe capacity can be maintained. There are now between 900 and 1,100 more prisoners than beds and fewer spaces are kept free. The service this week began keeping track of the number of people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, with numbers breaching 350 on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters this week , director general of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey said the service currently has no plans to build new prisons and that it is 'far quicker and cheaper' to expand existing prisons. 'We have lots of plans in relation to additional spaces. Progress is being made on existing projects and we are building on existing prison sites, but the difficulty is the public spending appraisal process takes two years,' she said. Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan pledged to find ways to accelerate the delivery of more prison spaces when addressing the union's annual conference this week. But the senior source said the service knows that 'building out of' the current crisis is not an option, given the timescale involved in capital projects. Throughout the service there is an increasing level of frustration over what has been described as 'neglect' by successive ministers to deal with overcrowding. A number of people working in the prison service also highlighted how a 2013 report by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Penal Reform, which recommended the state take a decarceration strategy to prisons and reduce reliance on custodial sentences, has not been implemented. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Irish Sun
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Our prison overcrowding crisis is a disgrace & we'll have a tragic event on our hands soon if real solution not found
OUR prisons are in crisis - with overcrowding out of control. The annual conference of the The conference comes at a time when the number of people in custody is continuing to rise, with more than 350 people sleeping on jail floors yesterday. The prison system is currently 115 per cent over capacity, compared to 110 per cent last April and 104 per cent the previous year. The most overcrowded jails are The POA told how there are a whopping 1,500 more prisoners than in 2019. Read more in News Prison officers fear there will be a 'tragic event or some other crisis' in Irish prisons if the Government does not immediately tackle the worsening levels of overcrowding in the system. Tony Power, President of the Irish Prison Officers' Association, and Midlands Prison Officer, highlights the serious situation in our jails... POA WARNING THE number of people in custody is continuing to rise daily, yesterday we had 5,344 in custody. This is approximately 1,500 prisoners more than at this time in 2019 when I asked the then Minister for Justice to take real action to ensure we did not return to the bad old days of 'Pack 'Em, Rack 'Em and Stack 'Em' and to the revolving door situation. Most read in The Irish Sun This overcrowding situation is a disgrace and is potentially creating an explosive situation within our prisons. Following a meeting held last Tuesday with senior officials - just two days prior to our conference - we were genuinely astonished to learn for the first time that: NO analysis has been conducted regarding the upgrade potential of the E Block at Portlaoise Prison, where 160 idle cells could potentially accommodate up to 200 prisoners. CURRAGH Prison could be brought back into operation to hold 98 prisoners—at a cost significantly lower than the €600,000 per unit currently being spent on modular homes. NO assessment has been made of the development potential of the D Block footprint at Portlaoise, the Separation Unit at Mountjoy, or the former hospital wing at Castlerea. These locations may support fast-tracked construction of updated facilities capable of providing more than 450 additional spaces. At a time when over 350 prisoners are sleeping on floors daily, we are truly shocked that these viable and seemingly straightforward solutions remain wholly unexamined by the Department of Justice. This is unacceptable—and someone must be held accountable. In the interim, we are urgently seeking a meeting with Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, to discuss this most critical issue and explore a path forward. During such a severe overcrowding crisis, no stone should be left unturned. We met Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, and his officials recently to discuss this and other issues and he gave us a good hearing. MOVE ON FROM THE PROMISES But nothing will address this situation unless the budget is found to create more prison spaces. We must move on from the promises. Successive ministers have failed prison officers and this is why we find ourselves in this position today. Our members should not be expected to work in these overcrowded prisons and the people in custody should not be expected to live in these overcrowded conditions. It is our contention that the safe working capacity of the present-day prison estate is 4,300, that is over 1,000 less than what is currently in custody, so today I am asking the Minister, what are you going to do about it? I don't want to sound alarmist, but if we don't find an immediate solution to this problem, we will have a tragic event or some form of crisis on all our hands. STOP THE DRONES The level of contraband in our prisons is at unprecedented levels, to the extent that prisoners are now storing The current netting that covers a lot of our prison yards is not sufficient as has been proven over the past number of years. They have been burnt through by firebombs dropped by the drones; they have collapsed under the weight of snow leaving some prisons without exercise yards for prisoners. EXTERNAL THREAT Drones are so sophisticated nowadays that the only way to stop the steady flow of contraband into our prisons is to stop the drones from flying pas the perimeter wall of a prison in the first place. Prison officers are not able to intervene to what is essentially an external threat. The danger that incidents such as these create for Prison Officers is unquantifiable, as officers will put their own Health and Safety at risk in an effort to retrieve this contraband. I am not sensationalising this issue but if drugs, phones even Chinese takeaways can be sent in by drone then what's to stop them sending in firearms? What is it going to take to ensure that the Department of Justice takes some sort of meaningful action to address this most serious issue. If it takes a legislative change and a review of intervention in other jurisdictions, then it is the Justice Minister department's responsibility to make that change, irrespective of cost. SITUATION NOT ACCEPTABLE Overcrowding provides the perfect atmosphere for the bully to thrive and exert huge pressure on vulnerable prisoners. The assaults on prison officers have become part of the system and this is not acceptable to the Prison Officers' Association. All state employees should have a safe working environment - not so for prison officers, and this seems to be widely accepted by the entire management body. 1 Our prisons are in crisis - with overcrowding out of control Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Irish prisons at risk of ‘tragic event' if overcrowding not fixed, warn prison officers
The Republic's prison system has returned to the 'bad old days' of a 'pack 'em, rack 'em and stack 'em' culture, including a revolving-door early-release policy, due to overcrowding, prison officers have said. Tony Power, president of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), has called on Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and the Irish Prison Service to address the fact that more than 5,300 prisoners are now in custody, with 358 sleeping on floors on Monday because there were no beds for them. The overcrowding is so acute it has created an intolerable situation for prison officers and other staff, as well as posing dangers for prisoners as tensions increased among them. He added prisoners should 'not be expected to live' in the conditions in evidence across the Irish prison system. READ MORE It was now imperative, said Mr Power, that Mr O'Callaghan and his officials in the Department of Justice allocated a budget to create more prison spaces. 'It is our contention that the safe working capacity of the present-day prison estate is 4,300, that is more than 1,000 fewer than what is currently in custody,' he told the opening session of the POA annual delegate conference in Galway on Wednesday night. 'I don't want to sound alarmist, but if we don't find an immediate solution to this problem, we will have a tragic event or some form of crisis on all our hands.' The Irish Times last month revealed all secure jails in the Republic had reached, or exceeded, capacity for the first time . The number of male prisoners in Mountjoy Prison , Dublin, had grown to 1,000 for the first time. There were 5,185 prisoners in custody at the time, which has since increased, meaning the system is operating at more than 112 per cent of its bed capacity. The women's wing of Limerick Prison was the most overcrowded, at 163 per cent capacity. The Irish prison system consists of 12 secure jails along with two open prisons. Mr Power said although prison was intended to be rehabilitative, that process was 'impossible' without basic living space for prisoners. Overcrowding, and the pressures it placed on the system, also sabotaged resources such as 'school spaces or the workshop spaces to allow prisoners engage constructively during their sentences'. [ Overcrowding in jails is leading to 'inter-prisoner violence', inspector finds Opens in new window ] Mr Power added that in 2019, just before the pandemic, there were 1,500 fewer prisoners in the system compared with today, yet his association back then sounded a warning about a rapidly emerging 'disgraceful' overcrowding issue. In 2023, the POA had also warned then acting minister for justice, Simon Harris , it was unacceptable that 167 prisoners were sleeping on mattresses on floors, yet that number had exponentially increased in the intervening two years. There followed 'hollow promises' of 650 extra prison spaces, including new builds at Cloverhill in Dublin, the Midlands in Portlaoise, and Castlerea in Roscommon, as well as a four-story block on the Mountjoy campus. However, two years later 'not a sod has been turned on any of these projects'. Mr O'Callaghan is due to address delegates on Thursday, while Irish Prison Service director general Caron McCaffrey is also due to attend the conference.
The Irish Sun
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
‘Potentially explosive situation' alert amid new jail overcrowding fears as number of inmates sleeping on floor doubles
THE overcrowding crisis in Irish prisons is worse than ever with 358 inmates forced to sleep on the floor on one night this week. The Its president Tony Power insists that it creates a The number of people in custody is The figure of 358 sleeping on floors across the Irish prison system has more than doubled in the past two years. Speaking at the POA's Annual Conference in Galway, Mr Power said: "Overcrowding continues to be a major concern for prison officers and is causing a Read more in News "Our members should not be expected to work in these overcrowded prisons and the people in custody should not be expected to live in these overcrowded conditions. "Prison is meant to be about rehabilitation, but that rehabilitation is impossible when He added: "This overcrowding situation is a disgrace and is potentially creating an explosive situation within our prisons." The POA recently met with the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and his officials to discuss the topic and other matters. Most read in Irish News But the association says "nothing" will address the situation unless the Department find the budget to create more prison spaces. He also took aim at previous justice ministers who have "failed" prison officers. 'HOLLOW PROMISES' Mr Power said: "That's why we find ourselves in this position today. "In 2023 on this very stage the then acting Minister for Justice and now Tanaiste Simon Harris stated, 'it is not good enough for the 167 people sleeping on a mattress on the floor or for their cell mates who have little or no room to move about'. "There is over double that number now sleeping on floors in our prisons. "Previous ministers made hollow promises of 650 extra spaces with new builds promised for Cloverhill, Midlands and Castlerea and a four-story block on the grounds of the old Separation Unit in Mountjoy. Two years on and not a sod has been turned on any of these projects." The POA believes that the safe working capacity of the present-day prison estate is 4,300 - over 1,000 less than what is currently in custody. He warned: "I don't want to sound alarmist, but if we don't find an immediate solution to this problem, we will have a tragic event or some form of crisis on all our hands." 1 POA president Tony Power said 'overcrowding continues to be a major concern'
