Jail overcrowding plan unclear, say prison officers

A Government initiative to ease overcrowding at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin has been described by prison officers as "unclear".

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell yesterday signed two directives which will see prisoners from the east of the State - excluding Dublin - committed straight to Wheatfield Prison and Midlands Prison.

Up to now, such prisoners have been sent to Mountjoy for initial processing before being dispersed to other prisons. Mr McDowell yesterday said that his plan would reduce numbers in Mountjoy by 25 per cent.

However, the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said that Wheatfield and Midlands were already overcrowded and the Minister's plan would require increased manpower in them.

The POA is seeking a meeting with the Irish Prison Service "as soon as possible" for clarification of the plan.

Currently, all men sentenced to prison in Leinster counties, excluding Longford but including Monaghan, are committed initially to Mountjoy. Some are then dispersed to Wheatfield or to Midlands.

However, from September 1st, the courts in the east of the State will be able to commit prisoners directly to Wheatfield and Midlands prisons.

Midlands Prison, which is on a site adjacent to Portlaoise Prison, will be a committal prison taking prisoners directly from the courts in Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath.

Wheatfield Prison, in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, will take men from courts in Louth, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow and Monaghan. Mountjoy will continue to take men committed from Dublin courts.

Stephen Delaney, assistant general secretary of the POA, said that the Minister's intervention vindicated the position of the association, which had raised concerns about overcrowding at Mountjoy for a number of years.

"But the intervention is scant on detail. We were not consulted on this plan and we would have to point out that while Wheatfield was designed to accommodate 320 prisoners, there are about 360 there at the moment.

"The Midlands Prison is designed to accommodate 445 prisoners and there are 430 currently. Those extra places, though, are not suitable for prisoners from the general population. They are for more disruptive prisoners."

He insisted that there was a "definite manpower issue", saying that if there was an increased occupancy at the two prisons "there would have to be increased manpower to rehabilitate the prisoners".

A spokeswoman for the Irish Prison Service disputed the POA figures, saying that both prisons were under-occupied.