CPT finds ‘worsening safety’ in male prisons
A report from a committee of the Council of Europe has noted reforms to improve the situation in Irish prisons in recent years but has also highlighted “several entrenched issues of concern”.
The comments came from the body’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), which has published a report on its 2024 visit to Ireland.
The visit examined the treatment of individuals in five different prisons, as well as at the Central Mental Hospital, the Oberstown Children Detention Campus and the Ballydowd Special Care Unit.
The committee said that, since its last visit in 2019, infrastructure had improved, and the use of segregation for security reasons had decreased significantly.
“The scope of temporary release has expanded, and ‘slopping-out’ practices have been almost eradicated,” it added.
‘Pervasive’ overcrowding
The CPT, however, described overcrowding in prisons as “pervasive”, and found “worsening safety” in men’s prisons.
It also highlighted inadequate mental healthcare, poor treatment of prisoners held on protection regimes, and gaps in legal protections for some of the most vulnerable persons – including mentally ill prisoners and young people in detention.
It has called on the Irish authorities to take “concrete actions” to address these issues.
On safety in male prisons, the CPT found that allegations of prisoner abuse by staff had increased since 2019, particularly in Cloverhill and Limerick prisons.
“Incidents included slaps, punches, kicks, and other violence in places without CCTV coverage, such as escort vans and reception areas,” the committee stated.
‘Excessive force’ allegations
It said that it had also received “several allegations” of excessive force during control and restraint interventions and relocations, “some corroborated by medical findings and independent enquiries”.
“Meanwhile, inter-prisoner violence remains widespread, with drug-related conflict and contraband smuggling driving much of the violence,” the CPT stated.
It described the provision of mental healthcare across prisons as “critically deficient”, adding that overcrowding and “an embedded reliance” on imprisonment for severely mentally ill prisoners had exacerbated the problem.
CMH staff praised
The CPT reported praise from patients for staff at the Central Mental Hospital in Portrane, noting its high standards of cleanliness and individualised care.
It remained concerned, however, about delays in transferring severely ill prisoners from prisons to the hospital and said that many patients remained in hospital “well beyond clinical necessity” due to the absence of onward placement options.
The CPT also recorded praise for staff at Oberstown and Ballydowd, but added that “critical structural issues” remained unresolved.
“Most notably, Ireland lacks sufficient capacity in special care units, resulting in prolonged detention for young persons awaiting appropriate placement,” it stated.
OPCAT call repeated
The committee reiterated a call for Ireland to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) and set up a “fully resourced” National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), which must be set up to inspect places of detention in the State.
IHREC chief commissioner Liam Herrick said that, while progress had been made in some areas, the failure to address long-standing issues highlighted “the urgent need for systemic reform of inspection and oversight of all places of detention”.
He called on Ireland to “finally and immediately” ratify OPCAT, as it was the last remaining EU state to do so.
Chief executive of the Irish Penal Reform Trust Saoirse Brady said that the report painted “a stark picture of chronic prison overcrowding” and called on the Government to implement the CPT recommendations “as a matter of urgency”.