The Department of Justice was warned a crackdown on undocumented immigrants would lead to more serious and high-risk criminals having to be given temporary release from jail.
The head of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said a garda decision to bring charges against individuals arriving in Ireland without valid documents was contributing to “unsafe and unmanageable” levels of overcrowding.
In a letter to a senior department official, IPS Director General Caron McCaffrey said in normal circumstances, low risk offenders on short sentences were the first to be offered temporary release.
She said this would normally include those in custody for immigration offences but that the Department of Justice had made a deliberate policy decision to keep them in jail.
Ms McCaffrey said that while the move was “understandable,” it was adding to the immense pressure on the Irish prison system.
Her letter said: “[It] will unfortunately necessitate the early release of more serious and high-risk offenders to make space in already overcrowded prisons [instead of] offenders deemed to be low risk from a re-offending and community safety perspective.”
She said the Irish Prison Service was heading into a “catastrophic period” and that numbers in custody were reaching new highs every day.
The letter was sent in February of 2024 but was withheld by the Irish Prison Service under Freedom of Information laws until recent weeks.
Ms McCaffrey also asked for urgent changes in the operation of temporary release and what type of criminals it could be applied to.
She said if changes were not made, there was “real potential to result in violent disorder within our prisons threatening the safety and wellbeing of both our staff and those in our care.”
The Director General said the Irish Prison Service had exhausted all options around the temporary release (TR) of low-risk offenders.
She said the department needed to look at TR for “medium to high-risk sentenced offenders” which would have to apply to criminals including “prolific” burglars and individuals convicted of assault on gardaí or peace officers.
Ms McCaffrey called on the department to look at options for temporary release of sex offenders, especially those at low risk of offending.
Under existing rules, sex offenders are ineligible for TR and no change has been made to this policy since the letter was sent.
The Director General told the department: “It is recognised that this is a difficult category due to the victim issues and the fact that people convicted of a sex offence pose a low risk of very serious harm while other types of offenders pose a high risk of less serious harm.
“However, other categories being considered for temporary release as part of crisis measures pose a much greater risk to public safety.”
The prison boss said this was particularly relevant for historic convictions and older sex offenders, some of whom were “medically dependent” people and actively engaging in rehabilitation.
Ms McCaffrey also called for more flexibility around the use of ‘open prisons’ for long-serving prisoners.
Under existing rules, only those serving sentences of less than eight years could be transferred to an open centre like Loughan House or Shelton Abbey meaning spaces were not always being used in an optimal way.
She called as well for a reduction in the number of people being remanded to custody rather than granted bail.
Ms McCaffrey said there was a particular need for a bail supervision scheme for female offenders, with the country’s two women’s prisons in Dublin and Limerick operating above capacity.
She asked too that the department would press ahead with efforts for the reopening of the disused Curragh Prison on Defence Forces land in Co Kildare.
Her letter concluded: “Overall, we are in an extremely difficult situation that we anticipate will only get worse without urgent decisions being made.”