Ms Sarahjane McCreery:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it. The Irish Penal Reform Trust, IPRT, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this examination. It is Ireland's leading NGO campaigning for rights in the penal system and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy. The subject of today’s meeting is vast so we will briefly focus on four key points, namely, reducing the prison population; living conditions within prisons; mental health and addiction supports; and post-release barriers and opportunities. We are happy, however, to discuss any aspect of this important topic that members wish to examine as well as the barriers facing the IPRT in our work.

First on reducing the prison population, all of the rehabilitative opportunities discussed today would be positively impacted by a reduction in the prison population. Fewer people in prison reduces the demand on staff and resources, promotes better living conditions and allows for increased access to the services and supports. The pandemic has particularly brought to light how difficult it is to balance the basic health and safety of people in prison alongside broader goals of rehabilitation when there is pressure on both space and resources.

While we have seen some reduction in the daily average number of people in custody since the pandemic began, our recent Progress in the Penal System, PIPS, report that noted that the daily average in custody was higher in 2020 than in 2017. This report also noted a reduction in the use of community service orders and an increase in short-term sentences. Since the beginning of this year, we have seen the numbers in custody creep further upwards. Among the many ways by which this could be addressed, the criminal justice (community sanctions) Bill 2014 should be progressed without further delay, alongside an investment in community-based sanctions and the Department of Justice should complete its planned review of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 and the use of short sentences without further delay.

Living conditions are fundamental to the overall rehabilitative function of prison. I people do not have access to safe and stable accommodation in the first instance, other rehabilitative programmes will be of limited value. Two relevant aspects are access to single-cell accommodation and adequate out-of-cell time, both of which have seen a recent regress. As of January 2022, only 54% of people in Irish prisons were accommodated in single cells, while there was a regress in the number of hours of out-of-cell time afforded to people in prison in 2021 to six hours. This is just one hour more out-of-cell time than people on a restricted regime and six hours less than the IPRT’s recommended standard of 12 hours. The numbers of people on restricted regime have also grown by 79% between 2017 and 2021. Living conditions have been further negatively impacted by Covid-19. To improve living conditions in prisons, the Irish Prison Service should carry out a review of single-cell accommodation across the estate before the end of 2022; develop and publish a designated policy on cell-sharing; publish a dedicated strategy for reducing the use of restricted regimes; and publish its plans for moving out of the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Turning to the third key issue of mental health and addiction supports, while there are limited data available on mental health and addiction in Irish prisons, research suggests that the prevalence of people in prison with severe mental illness is four times that of the general population, while an estimated one in two prisoners present with substance misuse or dependence issues. There remain challenges in regards the prison system’s ability to address these issues, with persistent waiting lists for the Central Mental Hospital, lengthy waiting times for in-prison psychology services and addiction counselling services, a low psychologist-to-prisoner ratio and an outdated prison drugs policy. Therefore, the Irish Prison Service should carry out a review of all mental health supports available to people in prison, with a view to identifying the areas where increased resourcing is needed. The Irish Prison Service should publish an updated drugs policy which takes into account a health-led approach to drug use within prisons, without delay.

On the fourth key issue of post-release barriers and opportunities, today’s discussion should not focus solely on the prison system, to the exclusion of what happens once someone is released. This is underlined by recent statistics from the Central Statistics Office, CSO. Consideration should be given to inserting into legislation a positive statutory obligation on all relevant agencies to co-operate around prisoner release. The Government should progress the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018 through the Dáil without delay.

I thank the committee for its invitation to attend today’s session. My colleague Ms Molly Joyce, IPRT’s acting executive director, and I are ready to respond to the committee’s questions as best we can.