THE NUMBER of prisoners in the State has exceeded 5,000 for the first time with almost 1,000 released early because there is no room for them in the Republic’s jails.
The overcrowding problem is most acute in the Dóchas Centre women’s prison at the Mountjoy complex, Dublin. It was built to hold 85 women but accommodated 135 over the weekend.
Sources have told The Irish Timesthat five women at the centre are caring for their babies inside the overcrowded jail.
Women who give birth while serving a sentence, or just before they are imprisoned, are allowed keep their babies with them in prison for the infant’s first months.
The Irish Prison Service said the number of inmates on temporary release is 938, or 17.9 per cent of the total prison population.
There are 4,274 inmates being held in the 15 facilities run by the prison service, despite the system having an official capacity of 4,066.
The combined number of inmates in jail, and those who should be serving sentences but have been released early, is now at a record 5,212.
The 938 inmates on temporary release represents the highest figure since the mid-1990s, when the State embarked on a programme of prison building to end the so-called “revolving door system”.
Temporary releases include inmates approaching the end of long sentences who are freed for a number of days in preparation for reintegration into society when their sentences expire.
However, a much larger number of inmates have been granted what the prison service calls “full temporary release”. This involves releasing offenders early, particularly nonviolent inmates, to make room for more serious criminals.
Many of those granted such a release are often just weeks into sentences that should run for months. The number on temporary release is considerably higher than last year’s average of 520.
Eighteen months ago just 200 prisoners were on this type of release.
The prison service said the procedure, like parole, is an essential element of sentence management. In the past it has conceded some inmates are freed early to manage prison numbers.
The Irish Prison Service acknowledged its jails were operating close to or in excess of maximum capacity.
It is also clear that the continuation of the current capital programme is necessary if overcrowding is not to become a problem in the future, the service said.
The prison service, which is led by director general Brian Purcell, added some 200 additional spaces will be provided “in the short term” when a new block opens in Wheatfield Prison, Clondalkin, west Dublin.
It “hopes” to begin a building project later this year that would provide an additional 300 spaces at Portlaoise, Co Laois, comprising the Midlands and Portlaoise prisons.
A new 2,200-berth prison is also planned for Thornton Hall, north Co Dublin. The site for was bought almost six years ago but a developer has not yet been selected.