Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the warning contained in the annual report of the Inspector of Prisons that overcrowding in some prisons is so acute that it is in danger of causing serious injury or loss of life; the steps being taken to address this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31143/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Inspector of Prisons Annual Report 2008 stated that overcrowding in prisons is an international problem, not unique to Ireland.

As the Deputy will appreciate the Irish Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts into its custody and do not have the option of refusing committals. It is the case that there has been a consistent increase in the total prisoner population over recent years. This situation is particularly apparent over the past 12 months during which time the total number in custody has increased by 306. This represents an 8.5% rise in the number in custody.

On 17 September, 2009, there were 3,904 prisoners in custody as compared to a bed capacity of 3,947. This represents an occupancy level of 99%.

The Irish Prison Service has been engaged in an extensive programme of investment in prisons' infrastructure. This has involved both the modernisation of the existing estate and the provision of extra prison spaces. There are contingency plans in place in all of our prisons to deal with peak population numbers. Since 1997, in excess of 1,400 additional spaces have been introduced in the prison system including a new accommodation block for 100 prisoners recently opened at Castlerea Prison. Furthermore, current projects will also provide the potential for an additional 450 prison spaces during 2009 by means of:

a new block in Portlaoise Prison which will have the potential to accommodate approximately 200 prisoners;

a new block in Wheatfield Prison which will also have the potential to accommodate approximately 200 prisoners;

opening the separation unit in Mountjoy Prison which will have the potential to accommodate 50 prisoners.

Despite this significant investment, it is quite clear that in some of our prisons we are operating in excess of our bed capacity at this time. In the longer term, the Government remains firmly committed to replacing the prisons on the Mountjoy complex with modern prison accommodation at Thornton Hall. Building new prison facilities at Thornton Hall on a green field site will open up new opportunities for the development of structured regime activities that support rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners. In developing its design concept for Thornton Hall the Irish Prison Service sought and continues to seek to deliver a modern, operationally efficient and cost effective facility which will provide decent living conditions for prisoners with appropriate support programmes including the provision of modern facilities for prison staff.

The mission of the Irish Prison Service is to provide safe, secure and humane custody for those placed into custody. This is one of the main reasons for the introduction of recent security initiatives, such as airport style security screening including x-ray machines and scanning equipment, the establishment of the Operational Support Group, the establishment of the Drug Detection Dog Service within the Irish Prison Service, the segregation of a number of serious drug and criminal gang members in a high security unit in Cloverhill Prison and the use of phone detectors and phased installation of telephone blocking technology.

No level of inter prisoner violence is acceptable. Every effort is made by prison staff and management to limit the scope of acts of violence. While the prison regime is designed to limit the scope of acts of violence, it is not possible to completely eliminate the possibility of such acts in prisons holding a high proportion of violent offenders without introducing a regime that would be unacceptable. When you consider that in 2008 the Irish Prison Service provided almost 1.3 million bed nights to predominantly young males, the number of assaults on prisoners, particularly those using a weapon, was comparatively low. There were a total of 759 incidents of violence among prisoners during the year of which less than 7% included the use of a weapon. This amounts to an average of 2 incidents per day among a population of more than 3,500. Moreover, prisoner on prisoner attacks are very rarely random acts of violence. They are invariably related to matters such as drug debts and gang rivalries, all of which have their origins outside the prison setting.