Overcrowding will cause 'tragedy', prison officers warn

A cell in Mountjoy Prison in January with a mattress on the floor to accommodate a second prisoner because of overcrowding. The number of floor mattresses in use on Wednesday was twice the number this time last year (174). Photo: Moya Nolan

There will be a “tragic event or some other crisis” in Irish prisons if the Government does not immediately tackle the worsening levels of overcrowding in the system, prison officers have warned.

Official figures show there were 5,344 prisoners in custody on Wednesday, in spaces for 4,666 people. This means 678 people were crammed into cells – 358 on mattresses on the floor and 320 inmates on bunk beds.

The number of floor mattresses in use on Wednesday was twice the number this time last year (174).

Prison sources and authorities have repeatedly warned for well over the last year, including in the Irish Examiner, that escalating overcrowding would push up inter-prisoner violence and assaults on prison staff – with growing fears that prison bosses could lose control if a major riot broke out.

Prison Officers’ Association (POA) president, Tony Power, said the overcrowding crisis was “potentially creating an explosive situation”.

Speaking on the first day of the POA annual conference in Galway, he said: “I don’t want to sound alarmist, but if we don’t find an immediate solution to this problem, we will have a tragic event or some form of crisis on all our hands.” 

Irish Prison Service figures show the extent to which the overcrowding crisis has surged in the last two years, during both the current government and the last government:

• Total prisoners in the system has jumped by 19%, from 5,119 on 28 April 2023 to 6,110 on 30 April 2025;
• Of these, the number of prisoners in custody rose by 17% (4,568 to 5,344), while the number of inmates given temporary release (TR) shot up by 53% (389 to 594); 
• In the same time period, there was a 6% increase in the number of new prison spaces (4,409 to 4,666) 
• The prison system is currently 115% over capacity, compared to 110% last April and 104% the previous year

The most overcrowded jails are Limerick Female (152%), Mountjoy Female (127%), Limerick Male (123%), Portlaoise (122%), Castlerea (117%), Cork (116%), Midlands (113%) and Cloverhill Remand Prison (112%)

The POA, along with the Inspector of Prisons, Mark Kelly, and reform groups, such as the Irish Penal Reform Trust, have consistently highlighted a worsening crisis with the Department of Justice, successive ministers for justice, as well as the Irish Prison Service.

The Programme for Government commits to 1,500 new prison spaces over the five years of the coalition. “We need that 1,500 this year, if the trend keeps going the way it is this year alone,” one prison source said.

Since the start of this year, the daily prison population has risen at the fastest rate in recent years, with the daily prison population increasing from around 5,000 per day to well over 5,300 per day.

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“That increase is in the first legal term,” a prison source said. “We have three more legal terms to go through, so we could have an extra 1,000 by the end of the year.” 

At the POA conference, Mr Power said the “safe working capacity” of prisons was around 4,300 inmates, 1,000 less than currently.

“We recently met with the minister [Jim O’Callaghan] and officials to discuss this," he said. "But nothing, and I repeat nothing, will address this situation unless the minister and his officials find the budget to create more prison spaces.”