Warning over 'misguided' approach to prisons system

The Government’s approach to the prison system is misguided and uninformed, it was claimed today.

With plans for new places for inmates in jails in Dublin and Cork, reformers warned the benefit of non-custodial care was being ignored.

A new report on the prison system revealed half of inmates had a history of homelessness, while significant numbers were chronic drug-abusers and diagnosed as psychiatrically ill.

Rick Lines, Irish Penal Reform Trust, called for more community-based sanctions to deal with petty offenders.

“It clearly illustrates the degree to which the current Government’s approach to prison is misguided and not informed by the needs of the prison population,” he said.

“Rather than prisoners being institutionalised, protecting society from large numbers of dangerous criminals, what we are seeing is the warehousing of large numbers.”

The report for the Probation and Welfare Service showed one in four inmates were homeless when jailed and more than 80% of these were using heroin and/or cocaine on committal.

It recommended that community-based sanctions be more fully developed, saying imprisonment should be used only as a last resort for many offenders. Mr Lines backed the call and claimed many drug addicts and people with mental health problems were being thrown behind bars when other avenues were not being exhausted.

But the Government appears determined to expand prison capacity with a new facility in north Dublin, Thornton Hall, to replace Mountjoy. A multi-million euro revamp of the old Spike Island jail in Cork is also on the cards.

“It is very, very worrying given the current approach of the Government to continue to throw good money after bad by increasing the size of prisons,” he said.

Mr Lines said the Probation and Welfare Service should look at supervising more low risk offenders in the community. And he highlighted the work done in a special programme in Nenagh, Tipperary to keep offenders out of jail.

“The short-sightedness of the Government’s approach is that drug free prison wings are a drug strategy. They are a treatment option for people who want to be clean, but it essentially ignores what is going on outside the wing,” he said.

“Drug free prison wings are part of a complete drug approach to prison but we need to recognise they are only one component. It remains to be seen how well resourced they will be.”

Mr Lines said the study was very important but only served to confirm a lot of information that those involved in the prison sector were already aware of.

In the report experts recommended:

:: The Probation and Welfare Service and the Irish Prisons Service have a responsibility to ensure that imprisonment does not contribute to homelessness.

:: To ensure referrals of offenders are made to drug treatment and maintenance programmes in the community prior to the release of the prisoner.

:: To provide drug free units across all closed regime prison establishments, to ensure prisoners who enter the system drug-free or choose to address their addiction in prison are given that chance.

:: A designated homeless team should be set up to support homeless offenders.

:: Give particular attention to the needs of homeless women in any future service development, as a means of responding to their high representation in referrals to the Probation and Welfare Service.