THERE IS A real risk that the Irish Prison Service will not be able to transport all prisoners for court hearings, as overcrowding is putting pressure on staff to meet their escort abilities.

Director General of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey warned the Department of Justice in a letter last year that the system is at “tipping point” in respect of its ability to carry out escorts to court and maintain safe staffing standards inside its facilities.

Her letter told the Department: “Current levels of overcrowding are exacerbated by resource constraints due to ever-increasing demands for escorts.”

The Journal has previously reported that record-high levels of overcrowding inside Ireland’s prisons are increasing the risk of violence, seeing incarcerated people sleeping on the floor and creating a difficult working environment for staff.

Speaking to journalists last month, McCaffrey said she hopes that new ankle monitoring technology will assist the service in reducing the number of people in prison who are on remand, awaiting trial, which amounts to roughly 20% of the population.

The short-term remedy is also being met with additional funding to increase the number of beds that can be made available in the existing system, the department of justice has previously said.

In her letter, the head of the prison system said she had “grave concerns” around the safety of staff and prisoners, because of dire overcrowding in jails.

Concerns around the length of time court escorts take, and frequency of them, were highlighted by staff at a recent Prison Officer Association conference in Galway last month.

Recruitment for the Prison Service Escort Corp, which transports officers and prisoners to court and other prisons, has been a particular issue in recent years as resources become stretched.

There were 4,960 prisoners in custody at the time of McCaffery’s letter, in May 2024, in which she said the Irish prison system was “not in a position to absorb the inevitable increase in committals safely”. 

Since then, the number of people in custody has risen to as high as 5,400. McCaffery said the appointment of additional judges has contributed to the increases in prisoner population and court escorts.

“Undoubtedly, a large element of the current overcrowding crisis is directly related to the appointment of additional judges,” the letter said.

“[This led to] the scheduling of over 600 extra court sittings this year, decisions taken when our prisons were already overcapacity and not in a position to absorb the inevitable increase in committals safely.”

McCaffrey’s letter was addressed to one of the most senior officials in the Department of Justice, but has only now been released following an appeal to the Information Commissioner under Freedom of Information laws.

Months before the letter was sent, The Journal reported how the Irish Prison Service was using temporary release measures, when people in custody are let out periodically under strict conditions, to alleviate the system from increased levels of overcrowding.

The use of the temporary release scheme is approved on a case-by-case basis. It is understood that every suitable candidate for the measure in the system has already been approved.

McCaffery told the department in May 2024 that she wanted an urgent decision on new rules around who could and could not be given temporary release. 

She wrote: “In the absence of an urgent decision [on temporary release measures], I need to advise you that I now have grave concerns in relation to the ability of this service to ensure the safety of both those who work and live in our prisons.”

She said there had been a sharp increase in temporary release to relieve pressure, but that all the main prisons were well above operational capacity.