State of the jails

VISITING COMMITTEE REPORTS: MOUNTJOY PRISON, DUBLIN: The visiting committee said it could resubmit its report for 1996 and it would still be accurate, such was the lack of progress on issues of concern.

In 2007 it raised concerns that 570 inmates were being housed in the “unsafe” jail but now the figure was regularly around 650. Rules introduced in 2007 to control numbers were constantly being broken.

Drug use remained a problem and the progressive practice of sending inmates out of the jail for the day to work had stopped with no notice. The new separation unit had not been opened.

DOCHAS CENTRE, DUBLIN

The women’s prison was well run but overcrowding and access to drugs were a “worrying trend”. The jail was operating at 150 per cent of official capacity and this needed to be addressed urgently.

The authorities seemed “powerless” to prevent drugs entering the jail and about one-third of inmates were on the heroin replacement drug methadone.

ARBOUR HILL, DUBLIN

The prison, which holds sex offenders, was “spotless and pristine” and a new integrated sentence management system had been introduced to cater for the rehabilitative needs of inmates and to assess risk of reoffending.

However, the committee was “deeply concerned” at the increase in inmates in 2009, from 138 to 156.

This happened at a time when 15 staff had retired and none had been replaced because of the recruitment moratorium. These factors “have the potential for permanent damage to an institution that has always had so much to recommend it”.

CASTLEREA PRISON, ROSCOMMON

An excellent and well-run prison in which new facilities such as all-weather pitches and a new indoor recreation area had recently been provided. However, prisoner numbers had risen and this led to increased “incidents”.

In one case, six inmates transferred from another jail had rioted. In another, an inmate smashed up his cell and attacked a senior prison officer wounding him in the face.

CLOVERHILL PRISON, DUBLIN

Overcrowding was a “continuous cause for concern”, raising tensions in the jail. There were more foreign nationals in the jail than in any other prison in Ireland. Many were held on immigration matters and had no English. More language training should be provided to staff.

The smuggling of mobile phones into the jail continued despite the staff’s best efforts. A promised system to block mobile phone signals was not in place.

A sniffer dog being used to search prisoners had been withdrawn. There was a waiting list for drug treatment courses. The lack of a prison psychologist was a “major concern”.

CORK PRISON

Education facilities were working well but were being disrupted because prisoners were regularly being transferred out due to overcrowding.

Slopping out made living conditions “poor”. Mental health services were “inadequate”. The reduction of psychology and counselling services was “a serious matter”.

LIMERICK PRISON

The committee recommended the installing of in-cell sanitation. Many inmates were psychiatrically ill and should not be in jail. The imprisonment of people for non-payment of fines was putting a strain on the prison.

MIDLANDS PRISON, PORTLAOISE

The reduction of psychology services was a concern, while the increasing numbers of inmates on methadone was putting pressure on the well-run health service.

A pilot scheme to block mobile phone signals at the jail had run two years ago, but no roll-out of the full scheme had yet taken place. Overcrowding was also an issue.

ST PATRICK’S INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS, DUBLIN

In the jail’s C3 wing, inmates in need of protection for the main prison population were being housed with prisoners taken out of the main jail as a punishment. With the increasing problem of prison gangs, this mix of inmates on C3 was unacceptable.

The holding of sex offenders in padded cells for their own protection cut them off from the resources available to other inmates. This was unacceptable.

TRAINING UNIT, MOUNTJOY

Inmate numbers had increased by 22 per cent while staffing levels had fallen. This was “unsatisfactory”. A number of worrying trends were emerging including cutbacks to workshops, reduced dietary options for inmates, and loitering because of idleness.

The Training Unit was in danger of losing its “pleasant atmosphere and ethos”.

OTHERS

Some 77 inmates absconded from Shelton Abbey open prison In Co Wicklow. The visiting committees of Wheatfield Prison in west Dublin and Portlaoise Prison in Portlaoise reported no issues of concern.