Press Release: IPRT calls for immediate action following the Office of the Inspector of Prisons’ publication of its Annual Report 2024 and Strategic Plan 2025-2029

6th November 2025

IPRT calls for immediate action following the Office of the Inspector of Prisons’ assessment of inhuman and degrading conditions in Irish Prisons 

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) today expresses grave concern at the findings of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons’ (OIP) Annual Report 2024 which highlights the deplorable conditions faced by people in custody in Ireland.  

The deprivation of a person's liberty through imprisonment is, in itself, punitive and should always be a sanction of last resort. It is a measure that has long-lasting and often traumatic effects on individuals and families. The conditions and treatment that individuals experience in prison should never be used as an additional punishment. Deprivation of liberty should not equate to deprivation of dignity. 

The OIP’s report provides a snapshot of the general inspections carried out in 2024 in the Midlands Prison, Limerick Women’s Prison, Arbour Hill and a follow-up inspection in Cloverhill Prison. 

IPRT Executive Director, Saoirse Brady, responded saying:  

“IPRT welcomes the publication today of the OIP’s Annual Report for 2024 as well as the publication of its strategic plan. The OIP, as an independent inspectorate, plays a crucial role in overseeing compliance with human rights standards and monitoring conditions in Irish prisons. 

This report paints a bleak picture of prison conditions in 2024, however, IPRT is increasingly concerned that many of the issues outlined as being of urgent concern, have deteriorated further in 2025 due to the severe overcrowding crisis meaning even more people are living in inhuman and degrading conditions. IPRT is particularly alarmed at the record number of deaths in prison. The passage of time between the drafting of this report and its publication underscores the importance and necessity of the Inspectorate being able to publish its own reports”.  

Overcrowding and deplorable, inhuman and degrading conditions 

IPRT notes with deep concern that this report is already outdated – with conditions continuing to worsen and the prison population regularly reaching new records since July 2024 when we reached a prison population of 5,000 people. The report highlights that overcrowding has reached crisis levels across the entire prison estate with the situation in the Midlands Prison – the largest prison in the country – being of particular concern to the Inspectorate.  

The OIP’s report reveals that due to chronic overcrowding, deteriorating prison buildings and systemic issues within the prisons, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) is no longer able to uphold the fundamental rights and dignity of many in its care. The Inspectorate observed degrading and unsafe living conditions across several prisons.  

Ms Brady continued: 

“The Inspectorate highlights overcrowding as a key concern. IPRT regrets that much of the progress or improvements in prison conditions that we have seen in recent years are being quickly eroded by the sheer pressure that the IPS currently faces.  

In 2025, we should not be talking about people in prison having to share with up to three other people in a small, restricted space, in many cases taken up by bunk beds, a mattress on the floor as well as an unpartitioned toilet, some without lids. Even for one person these living spaces would be cramped and uncomfortable but the report points to some people having to eat their meals standing up or sitting on the floor, sometimes with no access to basic amenities like pillows or clothes-washing facilities. In Cloverhill – the remand prison – limited time allocated to showering, combined with a broken shower and overcrowding meant that people were unable to wash themselves. In no way is this acceptable. At the time of its inspection, the Inspectorate criticised the fact that 31 people in the Midlands were sleeping on mattresses on the floor, yet today that number has more than tripled to 97. 

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Mark Kelly, is clear in his assessment that “very many prisoners are being held in conditions that can be described as inhuman and degrading”. Both the Chief Inspector and IPRT have continuously raised these concerns at ministerial as well as official level, yet conditions continue to go in the wrong direction. The Inspectorate, as well as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has called for an upper ceiling or cap on the number of people that each prison can accommodate. It is time their warnings were heeded as the unsafe levels we see across the prison estate are unsustainable.  

Notably, the OIP’s report points to cohorts of people who should not be accommodated in Cloverhill Prison including people with “serious mental illness” and immigration detainees. The Inspectorate also calls on the Minister for Justice to take urgent action to reduce the high number of people held in pre-trial detention or on remand in Cloverhill Prison and other prisons in the State”.   

Another key function of the Inspectorate is to investigate deaths in custody. Speaking on the unprecedented number of deaths in custody in 2024, Ms. Brady said: 

“The fact that 31 people died in custody in 2024 – the highest number ever recorded by the OIP – is deeply alarming. While there may be a small number of people who die of natural causes in custody or shortly after their releases, this figure along with a number of repeated recommendations that have gone unimplemented, points to systemic failures within the prison system. 

IPRT is calling on the IPS to fully implement the OIP’s recommendations on deaths in custody, particularly in relation to accurate record-keeping to better understand the circumstances surrounding a death in prison, appropriate access to healthcare and treatment particularly in relation to mental health, and steps to counter the internal secretion of drugs which was found to be a feature in a number of deaths”.  

Poor Record-Keeping and Inadequate Oversight 

The report found persistent failures in record-keeping, including documentation on the use of force and for persons detained in Close Supervision Cells (CSC). The practice of placing prisoners in thin plastic ponchos in CSCs continues, despite the CPT recommending that it should end. 

Out-of-cell time was not recorded, except for people on restricted regimes. Even where records were kept, they often captured only the time offered to them.  

Such poor data collection prevents meaningful oversight and accountability, masking the true extent of the isolation and deprivation faced by people in custody. 

Speaking on accountability and record-keeping, Ms Brady said: 

“IPRT has concerns surrounding accountability and record-keeping. Poor record-keeping on the use of force and time spent out of cell is particularly concerning as the confinement of prisoners for more than 22 hours in a 24-hour period constitutes solitary confinement. Given reports of prisoners on restricted regimes spending up to 23.5 hours a day locked in their cell, we are calling on the Irish Prison Service to take action to ensure that all prisoners are spending time out of their cell with daily meaningful human contact”. 

Speaking on the inadequate complaints system, Ms Brady said: 

“IPRT is extremely concerned - though not surprised – by the low number of formal complaints being made, given the deplorable conditions documented. Surveys conducted among prison staff and prisoners demonstrate an overwhelming lack of confidence in the complaints system, with prisoners experiencing fear of reprisals if they were to make a complaint. 

This results in a culture of silence and mistrust that undermines accountability and makes it difficult to identify problems or address wrongdoing effectively. 

IPRT is calling on the Minister as a matter of urgency to provide the Ombudsman with the statutory power to receive and respond to prison complaints to ensure an effective, independent complaints system and increase accountability and oversight in Irish prisons.”  

Limerick Women’s Prison 

The Inspectorate noted a positive development in the introduction of the Structured Temporary Release Pilot Programme in Limerick Women’s Prison which is intended to provide greater support to women on their release to the community. However, in inspecting the new trauma-informed prison, the Inspectorate assessed and examined its “purported trauma-informed nature” and found that despite the excellent standard of accommodation in some parts of the prison, “it was clear that overcrowding was impacting on the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of women living there” and that the combined deficits in provision were “at odds with what a trauma-informed environment should provide”.  

Failure to ratify OPCAT 

Ireland remains the only EU and Council of Europe member state that has yet to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) - a critical instrument to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for people held in places of detention.  

Ms. Brady said: 

“IPRT again calls on the government to take immediate action to ratify and implement OPCAT. As we are preparing for Ireland’s EU Presidency next year, it is unconscionable that we are now the only EU member state not to have ratified this treaty, which is fundamental for ensuring effective oversight and prevention of torture in places where people are deprived of their liberty, including prisons. 

Today’s report sets out clear recommendations for the Minister, the Department of Justice as well as the Irish Prison Service. These must be implemented as a matter of urgency. IPRT will continue to review and analyse the 2024 report over the coming days and weeks and advocate for its findings to inform key legislative and policy reforms.  

ENDS  

NOTES FOR EDITORS:  

1. Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) | www.iprt.ie  IPRT is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of everyone in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy, with prison as a last resort.  

2. Prison figures: As of Thursday 6 November 2025, Irish prisons were operating at 121 percent capacity, with 5,661 in prison custody with 502 people sleeping on mattresses on the floor.  

3. Office of the Inspect of Prisons Annual Report 2024 available here. 

4. Office of the Inspector of Prisons Strategic Plan 2025-2029 available here.  

Key Figures and stats: OIP’s Annual Report 2024. 

Arbour Hill Prison  
Occupancy has risen slightly since the inspection (19-25 March 2024), from 134 residents (98% capacity) to today’s figures of 137 residents — now at 100% capacity. 

Midlands Prison 
Numbers have increased since the inspection (26 June-9 July 2024) from 982 residents (112% capacity) to today’s figures of 1,052 residents at 118% capacity of whom 103 residents are on remand.  
Ninety-eight people are currently sleeping on mattresses on the floor.  

Limerick Women’s Prison 
Already severely overcrowded during the inspection (18-22 November 2024) with 80 residents at 144% capacity, today it holds 87 residents — 155% capacity of whom 23 are on remand.  

Cloverhill Prison 
During the inspection (follow-up inspection took place from 9-11 December 2024 from an earlier inspection in 2023) there were 491 residents. 35% of whom were held in cells above their designated capacity. It now holds 534 residents — 123% capacity.;391 of these are on remand.  
Eighty-two people are sleeping on mattresses on the floor.