Most jail terms last year were for minor offences

MORE than half of the people who went to prison last year were locked up for road traffic offences and non-payment of court ordered fines, figures from the Irish Prison Service have revealed.

Despite critical prisoner levels and a massively overburdened system, there were almost 8,500 committals for these offences last year, figures which the Irish Penal Reform Trust has branded “shocking”.

The annual report of the Irish Prison Service (IPS),published yesterday, shows a staggering 90% increase in the number of committals for non-payment of fines last year compared with 2008 – a figure which had already increased by almost 90% from 2007.

In 2009, there were 4,806 committals for non-payment of fines, up from 2,520 in 2008.

The report also reveals a surge in the numbers receiving short sentences, with a 63% rise in the use of three-month terms recorded, more than 70% of which were for road traffic offences (3,601).

Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) Liam Herrick warned the crisis in the prison service was getting out of hand.

Mr Herrick last night called on the Department of Justice to intervene immediately and address the escalating problem.

He said there was nothing the prison service could do to alleviate the situation but place prisoners on temporary release.

Mr Herrick said the real issue was with the district court and sentences being handed down.

He said the overcrowding in Irish prisons was dangerous and there was a real need for a government response.

According to the IPS annual report, the average number of inmates in custody at any one time last year was 3,881.

The IPRT said, however, these figures were more than six months out of date and the most recent data was showing the number was at about 4,200 this year – peaking at 4,491 in July.

“Coupled with government acknowledgement of the under-use of community sanctions, this indicates a very serious problem of excessive imprisonment at district court level.

“Short sentences of three months or less made up 53% (5,750) of all committals under sentence in 2009; 70% (7,655) of sentenced committals were for six months or less.

“This comes against growing international recognition that sentences of this type are completely counter-productive.

“These figures also give lie to the myth that the large majority of persons sent to prison are violent offenders,” he said.

Overall in 2009, there were a total of 15,425 committals to prison – a significant increase on the 2008 total of 13,557 – representing a total of 12,339 people.

Fine Gael’s former spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan said the figures were an indictment of the failure of Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to put in place a prison system that works.

He said the scaling back of the Thornton Hall project would now be felt even more keenly.