The Director of the Irish Prison Service has said prison officers are to be issued with body worn cameras and batons for personal protection later this year to deal with the increased levels of violence in the prisons.
Caron McCaffrey said at the Prison Officers' Association (POA) annual conference in Kilkenny that it was regrettable that over 130 prison officers were assaulted last year but that the service was continuing to provide support to staff.
She accepted that the increase in violence was a byproduct of the high levels of overcrowding but insisted that 700 new prison spaces would be provided within the next three years.
However, prison officers say this will not be enough to deal with the overcrowding crisis in the prisons.
The Deputy General Secretary of the POA said that overcrowding has been the main problem in the country's prisons for years.
Gabriel Keaveny said it enables organised crime gangs to flourish and facilitates the increased smuggling of drugs, weapons and mobile phones.
The prison service director said body worn cameras had already been successfully trialled and would be rolled out first to prison officers in Mountjoy Prison later this year and then across all prisons next year.
Ms McCaffrey also said that prison officers in the violence reduction unit already carried batons but these would now also be issued to all prison officers.
She pointed out, however, that batons were only ever drawn twice in the unit but were never used.
Both the prison service and the prison officers agree that body worn cameras and batons have led to an improvement in behaviour and have helped de-escalate violent situations.
The Director also said she was in favour of issuing prison officers with incapacitant spray but that this required a change in legislation which was currently going through the Oireachtas.
Acting President of the POA Peter Redmond said there has been a 37% increase in violence in the prisons with direct attacks on prison officers up by 23%
The POA is calling for a new prison to be urgently built at Thornton Hall and a new women's open prison to help alleviate the overcrowding crisis.
They also want the specialised anti-drone netting rolled out over every prison exercise yard to stop the drone deliveries and minimise the flow of contraband to the prisons.
POA says conditions in prisons 'a national scandal'
Prison officers have said violence, intimidation, weapons and drug smuggling are all increasing in the country’s prisons because of overcrowding.
There are over 6,600 prisoners in the prison system - over 1,900 more than the number of beds available.
The POA described conditions in the country’s prisons as "a national scandal".
Overcrowding has been the main problem in the country’s prisons for years and prison officers say the root cause of so many other problems in the prison system.
They said it enables organised crime groups to flourish and ensures vulnerable inmates become more vulnerable.
It has led to an increase in violence and attacks on staff, and facilitates the increased smuggling of drugs, weapons and mobile phones.
Violent incidents increased from 1,093 in 2024 to 1,503 last year, up 37.5%, while direct attacks on prison officers increased by 23% from 107 to 132.
More people are being sent to prison but just one new prison has been built in the last 26 years.
The prison officers have said successive governments have failed them and the inmates they are supposed to be protecting and rehabilitating.
POA Acting President Peter Redmond said the number of prisoners sleeping on floors illustrates the neglect and a lack of interest and real commitment to a vulnerable section of society.
He also said that the almost 2,500 prisoners on a waiting list for psychological support represent a mental health crisis, and many will leave prison without assessment or treatment.
The POA also criticised the construction of 30 single occupancy modular housing units in the open prisons at Loughan House and Shelton Abbey, costing €15m, which it has said is "an outrageous cost".
It also questions why these units are not being built in the overcrowded prisons such as Mountjoy, which has 324 inmates more than it can hold.
The association said responsibility lies with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and that while 70 additional prison spaces have been created since he was appointed, 460 more people have been sent to prison.
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'Ongoing state of crisis'
Deputy General Secretary of the POA Gabriel Keaveny said "prisons are in an ongoing state of crisis" due to chronic overcrowding.
The POA believes that prisons are anywhere between 1,300 and 1,500 over what they can safely manage.
"Prisons are in an ongoing state of crisis, our members are trying to manage this on a daily basis, and all the figures are on an upward trajectory across all the various different headings," he said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"It's a truly impossible task that our members are being asked to do on a daily basis."
He added that he has never seen the situation so bad.
Mr Keaveny said that the "revolving door is well and truly back and established" with roughly 650 prisoners out on temporary release at any time.
He added that nearly 10% of the prison population were sleeping on the floor. "It’s a truly shocking indictment on Government to be quite honest".
Mr Keaveny said the overcrowding is impacting prisoners' access to services, and that it also brings the introduction of contraband like drugs.
"We've seen over 400 drone drops this year alone, we believe it's more than that. Drug seizures are up by 28%, phone seizures are up by 31%, weapon seizures are up by 70%."
He said all of this was a direct consequence of overcrowding.
"In an overcrowding situation, unfortunately, the bully thrives and the vulnerable suffers in silence."
Violent incidents have also increased. Mr Keaveny said direct physical assaults were up by 23%, aggressive and threatening behaviour up 161% and physical interventions up by 28%.
He added that prison officers needed to be protected while doing their job.
