Prison Chaplain Annual Reports 2021

1st May 2023

The Prison Chaplain Annual Reports for 2021 have been published by the Irish Prison Service in May 2023. All of these reports relate to the 2021 calendar year.  

Chaplains play an important role in the lives of people in prison and have historically offered balanced and fair critique of conditions in prisons. Before 2010, these reports were regularly published and played a vital role in highlighting key issues in prisons. There was a significant period where these reports were no longer published, but publication recommenced in 2020 (Annual Reports 2019 here). It’s now been two years since the last Chaplain Annual Reports (2020) were published in 2021. 

Under Prison Rules 2007. 119. (1) Each chaplain shall, not later than the 31st day of March, or such later date as may be specified by the Minister, in each year, prepare and submit to the Director General and to the Governor, a report on matters relevant to the provision of chaplaincy services in the prison during the year immediately preceding the year in which the report is to be submitted. 

Details of several of the reports are featured in media coverage by the Irish Examiner. 

Some of observations made on the chaplains' reports are: 

• Lack of access to bereavement services, including the possibility of attending funerals of loved ones; 
• Absence of aftercare facilities for released prisoners, including the manner in which they are released. “The bags that prisoners are issued with to hold their property are the same bags that are used to contain rubbish in the prison system. What is that saying to human dignity?” the Dochas chaplains report states; 
• A system for transgender prisoners in Limerick Prison in which the prisoners are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day; 
• The understaffing, employment conditions, and reduced pay for prison chaplains, whose function is to advocate for both prisoners and staff within the system; 

Prison Chaplain Annual Reports for 2021 can be read on the Irish Prison Service website here.