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Prison systems 'likely to reach breaking point' as overcrowding gets worse
Prison overcrowding has reached such a crisis that current inmate numbers are already greater than the recommended capacity of the prison system after 1,500 more spaces are built by 2030.
An official report said that even if the commitment in the 2025 Programme for Government is fully met, the recommended capacity of Irish prisons in 2030 would be 5,412.
That's less than the 5,485 prisoners currently in Irish jails, as of July 2.
The Future Prison Capacity Report Working Group Report, set up by previous justice minister Helen McEntee, estimated that the projected prison population would be between 5,600 and 6,450 by 2035.
The report said the operational capacity of prisons, as recommended by international inspection bodies, is 90%, with spare capacity to account for sudden surges, such as large-scale incidents.
Irish prison occupancy rate currently stands at 118% — with bed capacity at 4,672.
The highest rates are in Limerick Female (148%), Dochas Women's Prison (128%), Cork Prison (126%) and Mountjoy Prison (124%). None of the closed prisons are less than 100%.
'Prison overcrowding leads to unsafe conditions, increased violence, and diminished rehabilitative opportunities,' the report said. 'Overcrowding forces prisoners to sleep on cell floors, strains staff resources, and heightens tensions, resulting in more assaults on both prisoners and officers.
"In 2024, prisoner-on-prisoner direct physical assaults increased 31% on the previous year and are up 130% against 2022 figures.'
The working group made this warning about gross overcrowding: 'Operating at occupancy rates far above the established capacity introduces significant risk and at a certain point of occupancy, systems in the prison are likely to reach a breaking point (ability to feed people, to allow visits, ability to separate prisoners for security reasons).'
The report spells out the risks of such high levels of overcrowding for the Irish Prison Service (IPS):
Compromised safety and security due to chronic overcrowding;
Increased violence and assaults on staff;
Unstructured early releases undermining public safety and justice;
Infection control challenges, raising the risk of disease outbreaks.
Higher levels of contraband, leading to drug-related illness and overdoses;
Staff retention issues, absenteeism, and industrial relations challenges.
The Working Group comprised senior civil servants in the Department of Justice and IPS as well as a governor, with independent chair John Murphy. Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan recently brought the report to the Cabinet.
The report said the existing capital plan was expected to increase prison capacity to 5,614 by 2030/2031, through the creation of 1,100 spaces.
'Taking a 90% occupancy rate across the whole estate that would provide spaces for approximately 5,052 people.' Prison numbers are currently 400 over that.
'Increasing the build to 1,500 places increases capacity to 6,014 spaces at 100% occupancy, 5,713 at 95% occupancy and at 90% occupancy creates space for 5,412 people.'
The working group recommended that Arbour Hill be decommissioned over the coming decade. File picture: Billy Higgins
It stressed that this model 'assumes that all existing prisons remain in use', with the working group recommending that Arbour Hill be decommissioned over the coming decade - meaning its 135 inmates would need to go elsewhere.
The report recommended that the acceleration of existing plans for large-scale projects, by seeking initial infrastructure exemptions, should be 'urgently explored'. It said this would reduce timelines by 12-18 months.
Mr O'Callaghan said he secured the agreement of the Cabinet for this measure, which, he said, would deliver 960 extra spaces sooner.
