14,000 sent to prisons in Ireland last year

ALMOST 14,000 people were sent to jail last year, but the prison population appears to have stabilised, the Irish Prison Service’s annual report suggests.

There were 17,318 committals last year, an increase of 0.8 per cent on the 2010 total of 17,179. Many of these offenders were jailed more than once during the period. The actual number of people sent to prison increased slightly by 1.4 per cent, from 13,758 in 2010 to 13,952 last year.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said there appeared to be a “levelling off in numbers” after big increases in previous years.

The prison population increased by 11.4 per cent between 2008 and 2009 and 13.8 per cent between 2009 and 2010. The increase has been attributed to a larger number of fines not being paid, which has been attributed to the recession, and longer sentences for those convicted of serious crimes such as murder or drug smuggling.

The number of committals for unpaid fines rose from 6,683 in 2010 to 7,514 in 2011. The vast majority (86.4 per cent) of those committed were male. Just 13.6 per cent were female, but the number of women incarcerated increased by 201, from 1,701 in 2010 to 1,902 last year.

Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Liam Herrick described the rise in the number of women going to jail as “worrying” and noted that a quarter of them were serving short sentences.

“The increase in women being committed to prison for short sentences demands a focused response from both the Prison Service and Probation Service,” he said. “Both services have acknowledged that specific alternatives to prison for low-level female offenders are needed.”

The cost for prison cell fell by more than €5,000 a year, from €70,513 in 2010 to €65,359 last year. The decline is as a result of a €3.2 million decrease in the overall prison budget coupled with an increase in bed capacity from 4,203 to 4,486.

The prison population at the end of November 2011 totalled 4,313 inmates, including 3,697 serving sentences, 609 on remand awaiting trial and seven immigration detainees. There were also 20 fine prisoners. The overall figure was more than 4,500 last month, the Penal Reform Trust said.

The report said that during 2011, “significant progress” had been made in implementing the public service agreement in the Prison Service, which aims to save €21 million in payroll costs by 2014. The number working in the service has fallen by 250 since 2010.

It also said that good progress was made last year in dealing with overcrowding in Mountjoy Prison’s C wing, with the construction of 38 new cells in the basement area. All other cells on the wing have a toilet and wash-hand basin in them.

A major extension to the Midlands Prison with an additional 179 cells is also under way.

Mr Shatter said 300 new places should be made available in the Midlands Prison by the end of the year and he had received approval for the development of a new prison on the site of the current Cork Prison car park and an adjacent greenfield site.