Report undermines prison plans

Cormac O’Keeffe

The report funded by the Department of Justice found half the State's prisoners had a history of homelessness and nine out of ten were drug users.

It also revealed that one-in-three homeless people going to prison had previously been diagnosed with a mental illness and that two in three had spent time in a psychiatric institution.

Rick Lines of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) said the report exposed "serious flaws" in the approach of Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

"This study shows that prisons are warehousing and institutionalising some of the vulnerable and neglected people: the mentally ill, drug users and homeless.

"The minister is increasing the prison population by 25-30%, putting an extra 800 to 1,000 people, including these vulnerable people, into prison."

He said the research which involved an examination of the records of more than 10,000 prisoners should result in a move away from incarceration towards community service.

"The Government is hell-bent on building more and bigger prisons. There needs to be diversification with more supervision, community programmes and sanctions.

"Imprisonment is of no help to the offenders, it's of no benefit to the community because it doesn't change the offenders' behaviour, it's of no benefit to the offender's family and no benefit to the State, given the huge financial cost."

Researchers at the Dublin Institute of Technology found petty criminals made up a significant portion of the prison population and that many were repeat offenders.

Almost six out of ten homeless inmates said they had been arrested at least 20 times in the past five years.

Report authors Dr Mairéad Seymour and Liza Costello said prison should only be used as a last resort and recommended community-based sanctions.

Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland, a drug and homeless agency, supported calls towards a community response.

"They're talking about building a bigger prison. Inevitably, they're going to fill it. Who are they going to fill it with? People like these. We should be looking at more community sanctions, linked in with homeless services."

He said while homelessness and rough sleeping was decreasing there was a "core group of difficult homeless people", typically single men with drug, alcohol and mental health problems.

"They're the people ending up in Mountjoy. Their needs are not being met, they are just being held in emergency accommodation."

Fine Gael Dublin MEP Gay Mitchell said the report presented a case for reform and that locking prisoners away in poorly equipped prisons was not the answer.