1,000 extra jail spaces will see prison population surpass EU average

IRELAND’S prison population is set to jump above the EU average under Government plans to build an extra 1,000 jail spaces.

The World Prison Population List, published yesterday, shows Ireland is currently well below the average EU prison population rate of 105 people per 100,000 of the population.

But under plans by Justice Minister Michael McDowell, Ireland’s prison population will increase from 3,417 to 4,445.

Based on our population of 4.03 million, the prison rate will rise from 85 to 110 per 100,000 people.

Ireland would jump five places in the EU prison league from 18th to 13th of 27 countries. (Data for Britain is broken down into three separate figures for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

The list, produced by the International Centre for Prison Studies in King’s College London, shows that the Baltic states and Eastern European countries top the poll.

Estonia has the highest rate (339), followed by Latvia (337) and Lithuania (234). Coming after them are Poland (209), Czech Republic (184) and Hungary (165).

Luxembourg is in seventh (144), followed by England and Wales (142), Spain (140) and Scotland (132).

The North has a smaller prison population rate (72) than the Republic. Cyprus has the lowest rate at 50.

Mr McDowell plans to increase the overall prison population by around 1,000.

He intends to build an 800-inmate facility to replace the unhygienic and overcrowded Cork prison and Fort Mitchell, which between them hold 300.

He also plans to build a new complex in north Dublin to house up to 1,000 prisoners to replace the Mountjoy complex. The prison list shows that the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world at 714 per 100,000, with some 2.09 million behind bars.

There are nine million people in penal institutions worldwide, reflecting a rise of 73% in prison populations, including a 69% rise in Europe.