Census of In-Cell Sanitation and Occupancy in Irish Prisons January 2017

31st January 2017

The Irish Prison Service Statistics Office has recently published its quarterly statistical analysis of prison population, cell occupancy and in-cell sanitation facts and figures for January 2017.

The report assesses the number of cells available in each institution and the number of those cells that are occupied by multiple prisoners. The report further looks into the number of prisoners who either do not have in-cell sanitation, or have to make use of toilet facilities in the presence of others.

The key statistics from this census are:

• There were 3,643 prisoners in custody;
• 2,007 (55%) prisoners were accommodated in single cells;
• 653 cells accommodated 2 prisoners (1,306 prisoners);
• 73 cells accommodated 3 prisoners (219 prisoners);
• 26 cells accommodated 4 or more prisoners (111 prisoners);
• 49 prisoners (1%) were required to slop out;
• 1,527 prisoners (42%) were required to use the toilet in the presence of another prisoner;
• 2,067 (57%) prisoners were in a single cell with a flush toilet or had access to toilet facilities in private at all times;
• 5 prisoners were accommodated in Safety Observation Cells;
• 9 prisoners were accommodated in Close Supervision Cells.

Read the full findings of the census here.