Patrick Costello
Question:595. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if she will carry out a review of single cell accommodation across the prison estate before the end of 2022. [17576/22]
View answerTuesday, 5 April 2022
Questions (595)
Written answers
As the Deputy will appreciate, the number of people in custody varies over time. The Irish Prison Service carries out cell occupancy census at regular intervals and the data from the latest published cell occupancy census carried out by the Service indicates that 54% of prisoners in custody are accommodated in single cell accommodation.
The provision of single cell accommodation for all prisoners is not currently feasible due to the existing capacity within the prison estate, and current levels of committals.
The Deputy may be aware that there are approximately 3,300 usable cells in the estate with approximately 3,980 people in custody at any point in time.
The Deputy may also wish to note that some prisoners are accommodated in multi-occupancy cells for reasons other than capacity and some prisoners, at committal stage, indicate a preference to share a cell with another person who may be known to them.
It is important to note that all prisoners are assessed by prison management on committal with regard to their suitability for sharing a cell.
I can also advise the Deputy that Government continues to invest in the capital development of the prison estate. Later this year, the reopening of the Training in Mountjoy unit will provide an additional 96 spaces. The opening of new male accommodation in Limerick in late 2022 will result in an additional 90 prisoner cell spaces being available and the completion of a new standalone female prison currently underway in Limerick prison will provide 40 new female cell spaces later this year.
The need to ensure the continued availability of modern prison facilities with adequate capacity will be central to the development of the new Irish Prison Service Capital Strategy 2023, against the background of the work underway as part of the Programme for Government commitment to develop policies and proposals to review policy options for prison and penal reform, including the effective and appropriate use of non-custodial sanctions.