Limerick Prison staff morale warning

Staff morale at Limerick Prison has deteriorated as a result of budgetary cutbacks, according to the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention.

Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen has also expressed concern, in an inspection report seen by The Irish Times, that some of the cutbacks could affect services for prisoners.

A separate inspection report on Portlaoise Prison describes as "an amazing waste of taxpayer's money" the fact that prisoners are being regularly sent to the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin when there was a psychiatric hospital within a few hundred yards.

The inspector also criticised the failure of both prisons to meet targets set out in their business plans.

Mr Justice Kinlen revisited both prisons early in 2004, in February and May, to follow up on recommendations made in full inspections conducted earlier.

However both reports have only just been made publicly available.

The report said that the overtime allocation for prisons had been reduced to €31 million this year - down from an expenditure of €61 million in 2003 - and that the governor in Limerick had drawn up a programme to cut back on expenses.

"There are now no visits for prisoners on Tuesdays as part of the cutbacks along with a list of other such actions," Mr Justice Kinlen said in his report.

"It is a very impressive document and he certainly seems on target. However, some of the cutbacks may affect services to prisoners which is a worrying aspect."

In his summary, he found that staff morale at the prison did not appear to have improved since the full inspection and "may have got worse with the budgetary cutbacks and the uncertainty of their future role within the service".

His report said that facilities at Limerick Prison were clean and that there appeared to be good working relationships between staff and prisoners. However he said there was an urgent need to refurbish the A and B divisions at the prison and that psychiatric care for prisoners was still not on a par with that in the community.

He said it was good that there appeared to be a commitment to rebuild the entire prison at Portlaoise.

"The fact that it is over a seven-year period appears a long time, although the work involved is considerable, but hopefully the finance required for same will be forthcoming over that length of time. There could be several changes in ministers for finance and each may have other priorities."

The report also welcomed the fact that the prisoners who had been involved in the hostage situation at Mountjoy prison in 1997 had been moved back into the general prison population after being held for several years in an isolation area.

It criticised that more than half of the general targets set out in the 2001-03 business plan for Portlaoise Prison had not been met. "If only half of the targets are reached, it raises questions what is the purpose of having business plans," the report stated.