The comments by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD at the launch of the 2021 Annual Report of the Irish Prison Service at Limerick Prison are alarming, and indicative of the Government’s commitment to an agenda which is contrary to what we, in the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, believe to be necessary for the welfare of prisoners and a humane and compassionate society.

Speaking with prison staff and management about the prison’s new construction projects, McEntee repeatedly referred to the need for ‘adequate capacity’ in the future and how this will be ‘central to the development of the new Irish Prison Service Capital Strategy 2023.’

When completed, the expansion will consist of a new accommodation block for male prisoners — with an additional 90 spaces available — and a new separate female prison which can accommodate ‘a minimum of 22 additional prisoners.’

Keith Adams, Social Policy Advocate at the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice says: “As a policy centre which has long advocated for an approach of penal minimalism and restraint, we understand that the development of modern prison facilities is important as sections of the Irish prison estate are outdated but modernising the prison estate must only replace existing capacity and not expand it.”

Experience teaches us that increased prison capacity always results in more prisoners. Adams responds: “A commitment to continued Government investment in more prison places and the significant increase in committals under sentence in 2021, particularly sentences of less than six months, means we will see the prison population increase, ensuring more decades of penal excess. The Government should commit to an agenda of planned prison reduction by investing in non-custodial sanctions and a suite of social supports to combat poverty, homelessness, mental ill-health and addiction among offenders.”