The Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO), which is in touch with around 1,100 Irish citizens in prisons in 30 countries around the world, said the Covid-19 pandemic had a serious impact on prisoners and their families.

The charity has published the findings of a global survey of its 1,100 clients, which raise concerns about prisoners’ access to mental and physical health care, restrictions on recreation and visits during the pandemic and resettlement support.

Bishop Denis Brennan, chair of the ICPO, said: “I am concerned by the relatively high number of survey respondents indicating an absence of a clear sense of direction after their release from prison.

“It seems that such uncertainty is a consequence of resettlement supports being withheld from foreign national prisoners in a number of countries and the inability for many to access educational, resettlement and offender behaviour courses during the pandemic.”

A quarter of respondents identified repatriation and returning to Ireland on license as difficulties they experience in prison.

“A well-resourced, transparent, fair and expeditious repatriation system should be put in place as a matter of urgency,” the report recommends.

“This will ensure that those prisoners who wish to do so can, if eligible, return to Ireland to serve the remainder of their sentence in Ireland close to their families and be supported in preparing for release.

“While long awaited draft legislation has now been published in relation to prisoners in EU states, it will be insufficient without further amendments to existing and proposed legislation and adequate resources to process applications efficiently.”