The treatment of mentally ill prisoners and failed asylum seekers, unhygienic conditions, the inadequacy of rehabilitation services and the closure of Shanganagh Prison are among the criticisms levelled at Government today by the Prison Chaplains Association.
The Association's 2003 report says Irish prisons have become "warehouses for the vulnerable offering little or no hope to many of those imprisoned there".
Some of the prisons "lack basic human living conditions," say the chaplains.
Some 20 full-time and three part-time chaplains work in the Irish Prison Service. In their report they say they are "gravely concerned" with the continued daily practice of slopping out in Mountjoy prison.
"Slopping out is totally degrading for prisoners and staff in the year 2003. Showering once a week is equally inadequate and unacceptable." Such conditions may lead, they go on, to increased risk of hepatitis A, infections, lice, fleas and scabies. In parts of Mountjoy, "rodents and vermin are prevalent".
The report describes as "shameful" the imprisoning of mentally ill people, describing them, "the most vulnerable of the prison population".
"As chaplains we recommend that the Minister would liaise with all relevant agencies to ensure that mentally ill people are not sent to prison."
The chaplains express "great concern" about the "inappropriate use" of the Dóchas women's prison at Mountjoy to detain women and young children refused entry to the State.
"Due to the overcrowding they are normally accommodated in the Health Care Unit where they are forced to share a small room with three or four other women. This is an appalling way to treat innocent people," they say.
Two areas where there is an "absence of rehabilitative programme raises serious questions around the purpose of imprisonment".
The chaplains say Government funding must increase for residential drug treatment centres for prisoners, and more drug counsellors.
They call on the Minister to provide rehabilitative programme for sex offenders. Currently 20 places exist though there are 350 sex offenders in prisons.
Some 36 per cent of sex offences are committed by adolescents, say the chaplains.
"We wish to put on record that some of these young people were receiving help with their problems prior to coming into prison only to find on committal that this was no longer available."
They are convinced open prisons provide an "essential platform" for rehabilitation and say the closing of Shanganagh "has now ruled out positive opportunities for the younger members of the prison population".
"It's time for serious change," they conclude. There has been massive investment in building prisons over past years.
"We would like to see more emphasis on the building of people rather than on the building of prisons."
