Disappointment at plan to build new prison in Cork but ‘few alternatives’
7th June 2025
The fact is that additional prison spaces coming onstream in 2031 will do absolutely nothing to address today’s prison overcrowding crisis or provide a bed for the 50-plus people sleeping on a mattress on the floor of Cork Prison.
Saoirse Brady said “Given the rising cost of building, coupled with the soaring annual cost for a single prison space to almost €100,000, this type of significant investment should be focused on reducing imprisonment rates and redirecting resources to social services, mental health treatment, and community-based sanctions.”
She added that as recently as 2022, the Department of Justice stated that “there should be a sparing approach to the use of imprisonment” and made a commitment to explore placing the principle of prison as a last resort on a statutory footing.
