Parliamentary Question: Prison Accommodation

6th November 2003

179. Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has satisfied himself with the present operating capacity of prisons; and his views on whether the existing prison capacity is sufficient to meet an increase in the prison population. [26033/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): The provision, at considerable cost, of an extra 1,200 prison places in the past five years has largely addressed the issue of overcrowding that became a chronic problem for the prison system by the early 1990s. During the period 1992 to 1997 approximately one-fifth of the sentenced population were on temporary release. Most of these persons had been released to make space for others starting prison sentences. Even with the increase in capacity since then, some accommodation difficulties still occur occasionally in prisons, most notably in the women's prison at Mountjoy, the Dóchas Centre.

In the case of accommodation for adult male prisoners, pressures are largely addressed through the regular transfer of inmates to prisons outside Dublin, especially Castlerea Prison and the Midlands Prison. The issue is not totally one of matching the global prisoner population to a global figure for beds or cells. A number of factors must be taken into account including the prisoner's age, gender, the nature of the offence, location, security and whether they are on remand or sentenced.

An Agreed Programme for Government gives a commitment to continue the modernisation of prisons and to the provision of sufficient places to avoid serious overcrowding in the future.