Irish prison inspectors have described conditions for male inmates at Mountjoy Prison as "shocking" and could be considered "degrading" with mattresses on the floor pushed up against toilets in some cells.
The findings of an unannounced full inspection of Mountjoy late last year were outlined in the Office of the Inspector of Prisons Annual Report for 2022 published today.
The report said a team visited the prison in November and December 2022, in the first unannounced full inspection to be carried out in years.
The inspectors were "shocked to find that a significant number of people were being obliged to sleep on mattresses on the floors of cells designed for single occupancy".
"The size and design of many of these cells meant that mattresses had to be wedged at an angle next to the in-cell lavatories," it said.
At the time of the inspection an average of 38 men per day were being kept in these conditions often with minimal out-of-cell time, according to the report.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Mark Kelly said "these conditions of detention could be considered degrading".
Mr Kelly said the root cause of the problem is the rising number of people being held in prison in Ireland and, he said, Mountjoy Prison for men is not the only prison unable to offer a proper bed to everyone in custody.
In the report, Mr Kelly said with a projected rise in prison population unless urgent action is taken, "the dramatic situation observed by my team in Mountjoy Prison for men will become a grave problem for the prison system as a whole".
The Chief Inspector wrote to then Minister for Justice Simon Harris to express the need for urgent action.
In the letter sent last December, Mr Kelly said: "I should be most grateful to learn of any measures that your Department may be envisaging to manage the number of people being held in prisons in Ireland in a manner that respects their basic human rights."
Publishing the report today, current Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she has approved measures to reduce prison capacity pressures.
These include an amendment to the eligibility criteria for the Community Return and the Community Support Schemes and for consideration of Temporary Release along with proposed capital solutions for the Prisons Estate and four capital projects.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons suggested imposing an enforceable ceiling on the number of people who can be held in each prison and said "the need to tackle overcrowding through a broad range of criminal justice interventions is now more acute than ever".
The annual report also found that the prisoner complaints system is not fit for purpose.
