Committals to Dublin's Mountjoy Prison could be reduced by up to a quarter after the Minister for Justice authorised the use of two other prisons to detain males sentenced in eastern counties.
In an attempt to reduce overcrowding at the prison, Michael McDowell has directed that
Wheatfield Prison and the Midlands Prison will take prisoners that would otherwise be incarcerated at Mountjoy.
The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell
Mr McDowell said the change "should help ease the pressures which Mountjoy prison can come under at peak periods arising from a high number of court committals."
"The Irish Prison Service has indicated that male committals to Mountjoy prison could be reduced by up to a quarter as a result," he added.
From September, males who are sentenced to prison terms by courts in Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath will be imprisoned in the Midlands Prison.
Males sent to prison by courts in Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Wexford and Wicklow will be held at Wheatfield Prison.
Today's move comes following consultation between the Minister and the Director General of the Irish Prison Service.
The directions were made pursuant to the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1914.
Responding to the announcement, the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said the Minister's intervention was necessary but "worryingly scant on detail".
In a statement, the POA said it "confirms the position" of the prison officers' body in the past weeks in relation to the overcrowding issue.
"It is not entirely clear how this announcement will reduce the overcrowding in Mountjoy - and we would value having this issue clarified as a matter of urgency," the POA statement said.
"Based on what the Minister has said today it appears that there will be no extra spaces created within the system - and the POA is concerned that this proposed initiative will only serve to uncap the capacity of the named prisons and move the problem of overcrowding elsewhere.
"We look forward to meeting the Prison Service to establish how the additional committals at the Midlands and Wheatfield will be managed. The Minister's intervention was necessary but is worryingly scant on detail."
