Early prison release scheme for low-risk offenders

A PILOT scheme to allow some low-risk prisoners early release is to begin in coming weeks.

The move, in response to a continuing rise in the number of people being committed to prison, is one of several measures aimed at reducing the prison population.

According to the 2010 report of the Irish Prison Service, published yesterday, there were 17,179 committals to prison in 2010.

While not all of these would result in a sentence being served – for example, those sentenced for non-payment of fines are often released before their incarceration in fact begins – committals under sentence rose almost 15 per cent last year to 12,487.

Speaking after he published the report yesterday, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said measures including the pilot programme would be employed to reduce prison numbers.

These include allowing payment of court-imposed fines by instalment, and an obligation on judges to consider community service as an alternative to sentences of less than one year.

A pilot scheme which saw 31 prisoners electronically tagged to ensure they kept the terms of a curfew was introduced last year. Just one participant was returned to prison for violation of the scheme, which is the subject of a cost review not due to be completed until later this year.

Describing growth in the prison population as part of “the greatest challenge facing the Irish Prison Service”, Mr Shatter said the moves would see a significant rise in the use of community service rather than short-term jail sentences over the coming year.

The report highlighted committals to sentences of less than three months which had increased by almost 28 per cent on the 2009 figure, from 5,750 to 7,356. Mr Shatter said this could be attributed largely to court- imposed fines.

Many such committals are to be replaced by community service under supervision of the Probation Service, he said. Only appropriate, low-risk prisoners who are considered no threat to the community are to be considered.

Mr Shatter said the Parole Board would be issued with new guidelines on a similar scheme for long-term prisoners. He is expected to make an announcement about the reforms in the autumn.

He agreed with views expressed by the Prisons Review Group that overcrowding could not be solved “solely by building more prisons” and that further steps were required to reduce the prison population, “although this obviously cannot be achieved overnight”.

The group recommended a combination of “front-door strategies” – giving the courts the power to impose a wider range of non-custodial sanctions – and “back-door strategies”, which involve an incentivised scheme of early temporary release with a requirement for community service under supervision.

The electronic-tag home detention scheme was also deemed to be appropriate for suitable candidates to reduce the prison population.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust yesterday said the “alarming rise” in prisoner numbers required an “immediate and co-ordinated response”. It said the Government should set “safe custody limits”.

Trust executive director Liam Herrick said: “While there has been a decrease in the number of the longest category of sentences, the report points to two key factors causing this increase. Firstly there is an alarming number of persons being sent to prison for sentences of three months or less; and secondly, a continuing steady increase in persons receiving sentences of five to 10 years, many in relation to drug offences.”

Mr Shatter is scheduled to give the trust’s 2011 annual lecture which takes place on Friday, September 16th in the Law Society, Blackhall Place, Dublin.

PRISON BY NUMBERS

THERE WERE 17,179 committals to prison in 2010 – involving 13,758 people – up from 15,425 committals the previous year.

The reports also showed that:

Committals for sentences less than three months jumped 28 per cent, largely because of a rise in the number jailed for non-payment of court-ordered fines.

There was a significant reduction in the number of inmates serving sentences of more than 10 years, and between three and five years.

The average cost of keeping a prisoner during the year was €70,513, down almost €7,000 on 2009.

The daily average number of prisoners in custody in 2010 was 4,290, an increase of 10.5 per cent (409 prisoners) on the 2009 figure of 3,881.

The average number of female offenders in custody also rose by 19 per cent from 132 in 2009 to 157 in 2010.

The daily average number of prisoners on temporary release in 2010 was 732, up 37 per cent on the 2009 daily average of 535.