Ireland's prison system 'inhumane', says Irish Penal Reform Trust (RTE News)
2nd December 2025
This article on the RTÉ website states that Ireland's prison system is “overwhelmed, overstretched and inhumane,” according to the 2024 Progress in the Penal System Report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT).
IPRT Executive Director Saoirse Brady said the situation has worsened, with over 600 inmates currently sleeping on floor mattresses. She described cramped conditions, noting that in some cells, prisoners must sleep beside open toilets, and 62% must use toilets in front of others.
Brady also warned of unsafe custody levels across all Irish prisons, with some facilities operating far above recommended capacity. She emphasized that many prisoners face issues such as homelessness and addiction, often without adequate support, and called for imprisonment to be a last resort, advocating for more community-based sanctions.
The Justice Minister's proposals to expand community service for those serving sentences up to two years were welcomed as a step in the right direction.
Related items:
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- Building more prisons is not the answer to overcrowding The Irish Penal Reform Trust outlines a more progressive and cost-effective approach
- Prison officers to be issued with body cameras, batons amid rise in violence
- IPRT Submission to the Consultation under Regulation 5(3) of S.I. No. 30 of 2019 on the use of ionising radiation in Irish prisons
- Prison overcrowding group to meet after capacity crisis warning
