'All encompassing review' of penal policy needed to tackle prison overcrowding

The problem of overcrowding in Irish prisons will not be solved by building new prisons alone. A comprehensive review of penal policy is also needed, according to the Report of the Thornton Hall Project Review Group. By Paul Walsh.

On 28 July the Report of the Thornton Hall Project Review Group was published by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter. While the terms of reference of the group were to review the Thornton Hall prison project, the report also gives an good overview of the state of the Irish prison system. What it reveals is a host of problems that will not be solved by a new prison alone. It also reveals the horrific conditions in which much of the existing prison population live.

The site purchase scandal

Controversy has followed this project from its inception in 2005. After a 2003 Prisons Authority Interim Board report stated that Mountjoy prison was beyond rehabilitation, it was decided to build a new prison on a greenfield site. 37 sites were offered, with Thornton Hall recommended as the best option available. The purchase price of €29.9 million agreed by the then minister for justice Michael McDowell prompted much criticism. The site cost worked out at €200,000 an acre, while the average cost for land in North Dublin at the time was €17,000 an acre. Even the State’s spending watchdog the Comptroller and Auditor General criticised the amount paid for the site. While he estimated that only twice the market price had been paid, he did make clear that he felt the fault for the overspend lay with the Government’s disclosure that the site was to be used for a prison in advance of the purchase.

According to the Thornton Hall Review Group Report the total spend on the site now stands at €44.9m, a figure which has been offset by the sale of surplus lands at Shanganagh Castle for €29m. This means the net expenditure on Thornton Hall as of the end of April 2011 was €15.9m. A significant amount of money in Celtic Tiger times, but even more so when the IMF/EU control our purse strings. The money already spent has limited the options open to the government and has made this prison almost too expensive not to proceed with. The question remains, however: is this prison required?

Victorian Conditions

The present prison stock, in particular Mountjoy and Cork prisons, has been repeatedly and trenchantly criticised. In February 2011 a report by the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Degrading Treatment (CPT) gave a damning assessment of Irish prison conditions. The CPT found plastic bags being used as toilets in Cork Prison and prisoners reported that they were only able to access one shower and change of underwear each week. Mountjoy was found to be in a poor state of repair and to have a serious overcrowding problem.

The practice of “slopping out” was undertaken by 25% of the Irish prison population according to the CPT and in their report they called for its eradication. “Slopping out” means that that the cell has no toilet and prisoners are provided with pots or buckets for waste. This practice has been described by the Inspector of Prisons as “inhuman [and] degrading” while the Thornton Hall Review Report states that the continuance of the practice leaves the state potentially liable under human rights legislation. Liam Herrick, the Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust agrees with this assessment. “I think it is very clear to us that conditions in those two prisons and in other parts of the Irish prison system are violations under our constitution.”

It is hardly surprising that Cork and Mountjoy prisons are in such poor repair given that they are of Victorian era stock. Both prisons were built in the 1800s and successive authorities and governments have found there are limitations in what improvements can be made to them. Prison overcrowding can lead to a highly combustible situation according to General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA) John Clinton. “Overcrowding creates the perfect atmosphere for threats and violence within prison, amongst prisoners and also prisoners against staff. It increases sickness, leads to suicide and seriously impedes prisoners’ rehabilitation.”

Why are our prisons so overcrowded?

The number of people committed to prison has been rising steadily for a number of years. In 2006, 9,700 people were committed; by 2010 this had risen to 13,758. These figures include those prisoners on remand - excluding those individuals and counting only those sentenced, the increase is even more stark: in 2005 5,088 people were sentenced and committed to prison, by 2010 this figure had more than doubled to 12,487.

While the authors of the Thornton Hall Review Report say that it is not within their terms of reference to explore why there has been such a huge increase in prison numbers, they do offer a number of possible explanations, including an increase in the number of Gardaí, and increases in the number of judges and the number of court sittings, which, combined, have led to increased arrests and convictions.

They also note that:

“In recent years, there has been a more punitive turn in criminal-justice and penal policies. Legislators have responded to the more hard-line climate of opinion in society. Legislation became more prescriptive in terms of sentencing in some areas…There has also been intense media and political pressure for the imposition of increasingly severe prison sentences.”

The Thornton Hall proposal

Thornton Hall was originally planned as a prison that could accommodate up to 2,220 prisoners. The review group has proposed a development on a reduced scale, with 300 cells capable of accommodating 500 prisoners. It also proposes 20 secure step-down facilities, capable of accommodating up to 200 prisoners in an open centre setting within the secure perimeter. This reduced facility at Thornton Hall would free up funds to build a new prison in Cork. The report proposes building this on a site in Kilworth with 200 cells accommodating 350 prisoners. They are also recommend building step-down housing similar to that proposed for Thornton Hall, but on a larger scale - with 150 spaces within the perimeter of the prison.

The POA had been opponents of the original plan for Thornton Hall and John Clinton does “welcome some of the recommendations” in the review group's report. However he still has some reservations. “In relation to both of those sites you have to take into account where they are? While we would welcome anything to alleviate the problem of overcrowding, Kilworth is probably about 25 minutes drive from Cork City if you haven’t got traffic on the road. Is that the exact best site? I don’t know what else is available around Cork but most modern European countries have their prisons central to the city centre.”

Facilities and location are also key factors in relation to Thornton Hall for Clinton. “With Mountjoy you have the Mater directly across from it, which is really like having a hospital on the grounds. You are within close proximity to the courts. You move that entire population out to Thornton and have you got access to the same services? That is a big question because I don’t think you have. You are going to have time delays and time delays can be very dangerous when a prisoner or staff member gets assaulted and seriously injured.”

Non-custodial solutions

The IPRT has welcomed many parts of this report, especially its references to non-custodial solutions to problems in the Irish prison system. Liam Herrick welcomes the recognition “that there is a large gap in policy here”.  The report provides statistics to support the charge of overcrowding in Irish prisons, which cannot be solved by additional capacity alone. For example the bed capacity of Mountjoy Prison on 19 April 2011 was 590, but on that day there were 620 prisoners in custody. In Cork Prison the statistics reveal a similar story, with their bed capacity on the same day being 272 while 307 prisoners were held in custody. These figures are substantially higher than those recommended by the Inspector of Prisons and do not take in to account the prisoners on temporary release at the time of collection. Our prison system is clearly creaking at the edges.

The report recommends “an all encompassing strategic review of penal policy” to incorporate “an examination and analysis of all aspects of penal policy including prevention, sentencing policies, alternatives to custody, accommodation and regimes, support for reintegration and rehabilitation, the issue of female prisoners and 16 and 17 year olds within the system.” Suggested alternatives to imprisonment include incentivised early release, home detention and an expansion of community service as a punishment.  The IPRT see some of these suggestions as groundbreaking as, according to Herrick, previous policy has been marked by a lack of joined-up thinking. “There has been an absence of an overall crime policy or penal policy from government, which sets out the appropriate role of prison, the appropriate role of diversion, probation and so on.”

The POA are in agreement with the IRPT about the need to implement the elements of this report that suggest alternative approaches. John Clinton suggests there is a need to change the balance of the system. “It’s about a carrot and stick approach to penal policy. We have a prison system at the moment were every prisoner gets the same services whether they comply or don’t comply. It is absolutely nonsensical.”

In this report, the one issue that underlies all others is resources and funding. Improving facilities for prisoners is not an issue that garners a lot of public support, even in times of economic boom. As the Government now has limited resources to allocate around departments, they may find it hard to get public support for improving the lot of prisoners. Regardless, the State has constitutional obligations to all its citizens and must remain cognisant of international human rights agreements it is party to.  The total review of the penal system recommended by the report would seem to be an important next step.  According to Liam Herrick of the IPRT the Government presently has the opportunity to reform the penal system. “There is a process ongoing at the moment, the White Paper on Crime consultation process could perform that function and hopefully that will bear some fruit over the next while.” A balance clearly needs to be struck, as present conditions for prisoners are not up to standard but overcrowding will not be tackled by building new prisons alone.

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