Overcrowding in prisons set to continue

THE decision not to go ahead with Thornton Hall — again — is the latest chapter in what has been a sorry affair.

To date €48 million has been spent on the project, an amount the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has described as “scandalous”.

The 38-acre site in north Co Dublin will remain idle for at least a year, with the only development being the mounting security bill to protect it.

The scaled-down version of Thornton Hall, approved in principle by the Government last July, planned the building of cells to accommodate up to 500 inmates and step-down facilities for 200 prisoners.

The Thornton Hall Review Group called for the closure of Cork Prison “at the earliest possible opportunity” as it was “extremely overcrowded”. They urged that it be replaced with a modern prison in Kilworth.

This would house up to 350 prisoners and have step-down facilities accommodating a further 150 inmates.

These spaces — 1,200 in all — are now not going to be available to a prison system which is buckling under the weight of overcrowding.

The review group said the level of overcrowding had forced authorities to increasingly rely on releasing inmates early.

It said the normal rate of temporary release was 5%, but that this had increased to 17%, with the highest rate in Cork Prison at 36%.

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

It said it was concerned at the risk to the community: “High rates of temporary release, for the purpose of addressing shortfalls in capacity, potentially undermine the criminal justice system.”

The review said the average daily number of prisoners was forecast to “rise substantially” by 2015.

Prison numbers could rise from 5,312 last March to 7,914 in 2015 and to 8,522 in 2016.

The only extra accommodation coming next year are 300 spaces in the Midlands Prison.

Ironically, given that Thornton was supposed to replace Mountjoy, Mr Shatter yesterday announced refurbishment of Mountjoy.

This will result in 317 cells in the prison having their own in-cell sanitation.

But it terms of how he is going to deal with overcrowding and further committals, Mr Shatter will have to explore a range of options recommended in the review, including supervised early release, home detention and periodic imprisonment.

The minister has a very long year ahead of him in 2012.