More than 50% of prisoners sharing cells

MORE than half of the country’s prisoners are sharing a cell with other inmates and at least 200 are sleeping in cells of more than four people, according to figures from the Department of Justice.

In the high-security Portlaoise Prison, which mainly houses criminals serving life sentences for serious crime, 18 prisoners are sharing cells with at least one other.

This is despite the Government’s stated aim to “provide single-cell occupancy for all sentenced prisoners”.