Heuston, we have a problem!

Or, in this case it’s Jim O’Callaghan, the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration who has the problem.

It seems we have too many prisoners and too few prison spaces. There’s such a shortage that some recipients of prison terms just make it as far as the front gate before they are sent packing again.

The Echo reported recently that overcrowding at Cork Prison had reached an all-time high as almost 100 inmates had no bed.

According to figures from the Irish Prison Service, Cork Prison is operating at 133% of capacity, a new record for the chronically overcrowded facility, making Cork, by some distance, the most overcrowded male prison in the country.

At the time of reporting, 394 people were incarcerated in the 296-bed facility, meaning 98 prisoners did not have a bed and had to sleep on the floor or on mattresses.

Nationally, there were 5,552 inmates in a prison system with a capacity for 4,672 prisoners.

We’re not the only country facing this issue. The prison system in the UK is under immense pressure from overcrowding too, with prisons in England and Wales operating at 99% capacity.

Research carried out there by their Ministry of Justice this year also found a direct link between violence behind bars and the overcrowding crisis.

They discovered too that prison officers were 20% more likely to deal with assaults in overcrowded prisons, and that creates additional stress for everyone involved in the prison system. Especially for the officers, who........

© Evening Echo