The overcrowding of Irish prisons, resulting in prisoners “sleeping on mattresses on the floor,” has been described as “extremely concerning.”
Speaking to RTÉ’s One News today, Saoirse Brady, Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, stated that the prison population in Ireland has seen a continuous increase since late 2023, reaching a peak last summer. Brady described the situation as “inhumane and degrading.”
“We have seen a steady increase in the number of people in prison since the end of 2023, hitting a peak last summer,” Brady said.
She highlighted the severe overcrowding issue, noting the critical conditions in specific prisons.
“We see certain prisons extremely overcrowded,” Brady continued.
“This is extremely concerning.”
Brady further explained the consequences of overcrowding on prisoners’ daily lives.
“That means that there are people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, that there are four to a cell, that is all increasing tensions and ensuring people are living in inhumane and degrading conditions.”
The current prison population in Ireland exceeds 5,000, surpassing the official system capacity of approximately 4,600 beds, resulting in overcrowding levels around 14% above intended capacity. Overcrowding has persisted since early 2023, with conditions repeatedly criticised as unacceptable and dehumanising.
Limerick Prison is notably impacted, with the women’s facility operating at 48% over its designed capacity, accommodating 83 women despite having only 56 beds. The men’s prison at the same site is 28% over capacity, housing 398 men with just 311 beds available.
Earlier this month, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan described the overcrowding issue as “unquestionably” serious during an exchange in the Seanad with Independent Senator Sharon Keogan. O’Callaghan referred to the stalled Thornton Hall prison development as an “important part” of addressing this “crisis.”
“We have an overcrowding crisis in our prisons,” O’Callaghan said.
“It was there last year, it was there when I arrived and it is there at present.”
The Thornton Hall site, initially bought in 2004 for €29 million to replace Mountjoy Jail, has yet to see construction begin, with costs reaching €50 million to date amid ongoing uncertainty about its future.
The project has stalled for more than two decades, and recent attempts to use part of the land for international protection accommodation were halted due to a High Court judicial review, prompted by local residents citing environmental concerns.
Fine Gael’s 2011 general election manifesto pledged to “revisit the proposal to build a new prison at Thornton Hall”. No such pledge appeared in the party’s 2016 manifesto, though the 2020 manifesto did commit to “increasing prison capacity” in order to “[take] account of an increasing population and greater enforcement due to our investment in Gardai.”
In its most recent 2024 manifesto, Fine Gael pledges to “construct a new prison at Thornton Hall” and create 1,500 new prison spaces.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s 2011, 2016 and 2020 manifestos made no such commitment. The first mention of increasing prison spaces in a Fianna Fáil election manifesto came in 2024, when they said they would “build the 1,100 prison places funded in Budget 2025 and increase the number of prison officers proportionally.” They also said they would seek to “Assess the need for a women’s open prison.”