The new Government should introduce a strategy of decarceration, beginning by reducing the prison population from over 5,000 in 2024 to under 3,400 by 2030. We can safely and steadily reduce the size of the prison estate and the numbers in existing prisons. Adjusting upwards the use of remission, structured release, temporary release, parole, community return and community support would reverse recent trends. Standard remission (time-off sentences) should be increased from one-quarter to one-third, with possible increases to one-half where appropriate.

All legislation should be scrutinised for its impact on prison numbers so that the Government practically advances decriminalization strategies rather than criminalization whenever possible. We need to set safe legal limits on prison capacity and on the numbers of people that can be accommodated in prisons at any one time. These limits must be binding to prevent overcrowding. There is precedent for such measures as places of detention as the Oberstown Children Detention Campus is only authorised to accommodate a maximum of 54 young people.

End the use of short sentencing - life sentence by instalments - and scale back the use of long sentences. The use of imprisonment for minor breaches of community-based orders should stop. There are other worrying and counter-productive trends. Sentences for selected crimes are being increased. Longer consecutive sentences are being imposed by Irish courts more often. In Ireland a life sentenced prisoner now spends 24 years on average in prison; it was 11 years in the 1970s. 

The use of mandatory minimum sentences for any crime is contributing to this and our legislators need to recognise the lack of evidence to justify these. Sentencing policy cannot be held hostage to knee jerk reactions, lobby groups or politicians’ “get tough” and “zero tolerance” rhetoric. Crime fell broadly in the nine months up to June 2024, with small rises in non-violent poverty and addiction related crimes (see graph below). Irish prisons are overcrowded but the only political response being offered is the promise of more prison spaces. Prisons cannot fix the problem of prisons.

Prisons should no longer act as containers for people who need support with addiction, mental health and housing needs. Diversion from court to the appropriate supports must be prioritised with the required treatment centres, social and public services appropriately funded in communities.

The excessive use of remand (pre-trial custody) needs to be stopped. Pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners currently account for 20% of the prison population and the number held on remand is growing annually. Bail support schemes should be expanded and utilised because they are less intrusive, cheaper and more effective alternatives to imprisonment. People’s homelessness or their lack of access to vital community services are never justifiable reasons to hold them on remand. Prisons are not places of safety, and should not be treated as much. 

There should be an immediate plan to release older, infirm, disabled people, pregnant people and mothers with babies from prison. When needs arise from poverty, addiction, mental illness, trauma and abuse, those needs are best met by community-based services not prison. It is never appropriate to detain old and seriously ill people in a prison environment, particularly those living with dementia or terminal illnesses. They pose no risk to public safety and require care, family and community support not custody.