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”.

In Mountjoy Prison there are 64 prisoners in cells of four people, and 186 in cells of two people.

In Cork Prison, 27 prisoners are in cells of three and 236 in cells of two.

Limerick Prison has 178 criminals in cells of two, and 27 in cells of three, while the Midlands Prison has 60 people sharing cells of four.

The figures were obtained just days after a report by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties strongly criticised the problem of overcrowding and the practice of “slopping out” in Irish prisons.

Last week five prison officers were injured, one seriously, in a standoff with inmates at Mountjoy, when 35 prisoners barricaded themselves into the recreation area in the prison’s D-wing and forced staff to withdraw.

Prison officers said overcrowding was one of the main factors leading to tensions in prisons and are seeking a meeting with the Irish Prison Service to discuss capacity issues.

Providing the figures in response to a parliamentary question, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said: “Where possible, it is the aim of the Prison Service to provide single cell occupancy for all sentenced prisoners. Exceptions are made for some prisoners who actually seek to double up. Prisoners may ask to share a cell with a friend or relative in custody and such requests are facilitated where possible. Doubling up may also occur from time to time to meet concerns about the physical or mental health of a prisoner,” he said.

Mr Ahern said the issue of sharing cells will be resolved by the construction of a number of new prison buildings at Castlerea, Portlaoise and Wheatfield prisons, as well as the new prison in Thornton Hall in north Dublin.

“The construction of new facilities will address the issue of cell occupancy levels and will, in addition, offer significant improvements in the areas of work training, education, medical services and in-cell sanitation,” he said.

“It must be noted, however, that accommodating prisoners is not simply a matter of matching the global prisoner population to a global figure for beds or cells. A number of factors have to be taken into account including the prisoner’s age, gender, the nature of the offence, location, security and whether they are on remand or sentenced,” he said.