Overcrowding the system

A TOP-LEVEL report was published last week on the Irish prison system.

Published in the midst of a busy news day, it didn’t get the coverage it warranted.

The report of the Thornton Review Group painted a grim picture for the coming years, but also offered shards of hope.

It states that prison numbers may jump by 50% over the next five years. Currently at the 5,500 mark, numbers may hit 6,776 by 2013, 7,940 by 2015 and 8,500 by 2016.

The calculations are based on 2009 estimates by University of Limerick researchers — predictions that proved to be accurate for 2010 and 2011.

As it stands, the report said the prison system cannot cope.

Even with most prisons being overcrowded, authorities also have to free growing numbers of inmates on temporary or early release. In some prisons, it is now a “revolving door”.

In Cork, the most overcrowded male prison in the country, 171 inmates were on temporary release on April 19 last.

The figure accounted for 36% of the prison population in Cork.

Effectively, the prison had 307 inmates in a jail with a design capacity for 150.

In Mountjoy, 22% of the prison population were on early release on the same date while in Limerick it was marginally higher, at 23%.

In the female prisons, the picture is worse. In a Limerick female prison, there were actually more women on early release (46) than in custody (36), representing 56% of its population.

In the Dochas Women’s Centre, 72 women were on early release (35%).

Nationally, 17% of the total prison population — 916 people — were on temporary release.

The report states: “The IPS [Irish Prison Service] consider a normal rate of temporary release to be 5% of the prison population.

“As the prison system has come under increasing pressure to accommodate committals, the exercise of the power of temporary release has become a ‘front-door’ device for reducing prison overcrowding. The rate of temporary release at present is 17%.”

It continues: “This could potentially increase very significantly if the number of people being committed to prison continues unabated, or increases, and where no additional prison accommodation is provided.”

It warned of the risks posed: “The concern must be that increasing the use of temporary release heightens the risk of releasing prisoners who pose a risk of harm to others.

“High rates of temporary release, for the purpose of addressing shortfalls in capacity, potentially undermine the criminal justice system and reduce the deterrent effect of imprisonment. It also poses risks for the community and the state in the event that a prisoner who has been released early from custody commits further crime, in addition to the wider economic impact.”

The report recommends that 300 cells for up to 500 inmates should be built at a scaled-down Thornton Hall in north County Dublin, and 200 cells for up to 350 inmates at a proposed new prison at Kilworth in Co Cork. It has also called for the early closure of Cork Prison.

Furthermore, it recommended “step down” facilities to house 200 prisoners in Thornton and 150 in Kilworth.

These recommendations have been accepted in principle by the Government, although it will not be known until the autumn, during the budget estimates, whether there will be any money to build the planned new facilities.

The report noted 179 cells, accommodating 358 prisoners, were due to open in summer 2012 in the Midlands Prison and 70 extra spaces would come on stream soon at Dochas.

It indicated there was also scope to create 150 spaces at Wheatfield, 100 spaces at Shelton Abbey, 300 spaces at Castlerea and 180 spaces at Portlaoise — if the monies were available.

But the report said the overcrowding problem could not be solved by building more prisons and recommended a range of alternatives to custody.

These include “earned” temporary release for suitable inmates to encourage them into rehabilitation prior to release. The group also suggested home detention where offenders are confined to their homes for periods under supervision, possibly involving electronic tagging.

Another proposal is periodic imprisonment, where convicts are jailed for certain days of the week.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust said the document marked a “dramatic shift” in official thinking.

Director Liam Herrick said: “The broad thrust of the review group report is positive in that we see a clear recognition of some key principles — the importance of meeting basic human rights standards, the need to reduce the prison population, and the need to create incentivised regimes where prisoners can aspire to progress to open facilities if they engage with rehabilitation, treatment and education.

“The clear recommendations in the report that overcrowding and the intolerable conditions at Cork and Mountjoy need to be addressed as quickly as possible are hugely significant.”

Even if the Government provides capital funding for the new projects, it will be a number of years before Thornton comes on stream and, after that, the proposed Kilworth prison.