Deaths in Irish prisons reached record levels last year with 12 inmates dying as a result of drug overdoses, murder and natural causes, the Irish Prison Service annual report has revealed.
In the report, director general Brian Purcell describes as "tragic" the beating to death in a basement holding cell in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, of Gary Douche in August 2006. However, Mr Purcell said a recommendation had been implemented which proposed the housing in a single cell of any inmate who complained to staff that they were in fear of other prisoners.
Mr Douche had been placed for his own protection in the communal holding cell where he was killed after complaining to prison staff that he had been threatened.
An internal report into the killing has not been published almost 18 months after Mr Douche's death. This is despite a commitment by the government at the time that the report would be published.
Chairman of the Prisons Authority Interim Board Brian McCarthy said the board remained concerned at the treatment of mentally ill prisoners. Mr McCarthy said he remained concerned at the delays experienced in accessing care for prisoners at the Central Mental Hospital. He believed it was possible to make improvements at the Dundrum facility before the new Thornton Hall prison opened in 2011.
A number of other matters were outlined in the annual report. These include:
Arbour Hill governor Seán Quigley expressed concern at the low number of sexual offenders who took part in rehabilitative programmes. He said only three of 238 inmates applied for the sexual offenders programme during the year, with only one being deemed suitable;
At Cloverhill some 100 of 400 inmates availed of the methadone maintenance programme;
The women's Dóchas prison in Mountjoy was overcrowded with an average of 89 inmates for a capacity of 85;
Limerick was congested, with an average of 284 inmates for a capacity of 274;
Mountjoy had an average population of 433, with 180 on methadone maintenance.