Catholic prison chaplains have voiced scathing criticism of the "dysfunctional" prison system in their annual report just submitted to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan.
The report said chaplains "remain deeply concerned that the core issue of a system that is failing miserably remains unchanged".
Issues highlighted included the imprisonment of juveniles and people with mental illness, the lack of services for people likely to commit a sexual offence, and the shortage of drug addiction courses.
There are 20 full-time and five part-time Catholic chaplains working in Irish prisons.
The chaplains said there was a growing fear in some communities that crime was reaching "epidemic proportions". However, the only response offered was the creation of more prison spaces and the imprisonment of people for longer periods of time.
This ignored the fact that imprisonment "does not effect the change that communities struggling with crime and violence expect or want".
The report warned that if this approach was not changed, "we will see not only an increase in the number of men, women and juveniles in prison but also a corresponding growth in the complexity of problems within the system".
It called for "radical change" towards a system that moved beyond punishment and imprisonment. It said the criminal justice system and prison regimes appeared to be driven by "a very limited vision".
"The results of this are to be seen in the inappropriate imprisonment of people with mental illness, the unacceptable regime for juvenile offenders, the lack of sentence planning, the holding of non-Irish nationals awaiting deportation, and the dismantlement of family life."
The report said the over-investment in building programmes and the lack of investment in helping prisoners to rebuild their lives was "a recipe for disaster".
It referred to large numbers of prisoners walking aimlessly around prison yards or sleeping through most of the day.
Irish prisons were "one of the most non-rehabilitative environments and regimes that one could imagine", the chaplains said.
They said services did not exist for those who believed they were at risk of committing a sexual offence. Once someone offended, they were eligible for treatment but there were only eight available places for such treatment in Arbour Hill Prison.
"This complex issue calls for a human response and not a response of labelling, marginalisation and isolation."
The chaplains also repeated their concerns about the imprisonment of people with mental illness and highlighted the lack of drug addiction treatment courses. At any given time, they said only nine prisoners may avail of a special six-week course in Mountjoy Prison to address their addiction. "Surely this must be seen to be insufficient when the drug addiction is the cause of so many prisoners being incarcerated in the first place?"
The report criticised "distasteful and irresponsible" media coverage of prison-related issues and asked how the public interest was served by pursuing an imprisoned person and by "combing through details that have already been made public".
It also said it was "appalling" that foreign nationals were being detained in prison simply because their papers were not in order.
The report was welcomed by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), which said it highlighted the "overall regressive direction of Irish criminal justice policy".
IPRT director Liam Herrick said it "provides a powerful challenge to the wisdom of the current prison-building programme. This report is timely and authoritative and deserves the most serious attention by the Minister."
