Fíona Ní Chinnéide

Speaking to Irish Legal News, Fíona Ní Chinnéide, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), welcomed the fact that Irish authorities had taken “pre-emptive actions to reduce the prison population safely in light of the COVID-19 crisis”.

“However, the starting point was an overcrowded prison system with people sleeping on floors and active doubling-up of cells, including in the women’s prisons,” she said.

“The recent reduction of prison numbers, while very welcome, brings the numbers within official bed capacity limits but not the levels of occupancy at which social distancing can be achieved. More must be done to further reduce the numbers of men and women in prison.”

On Wednesday, UN human rights high commissioner Michelle Bachelet called on states to reduce prisoner numbers to stop COVID-19 “rampaging through places of detention”.

Physical distancing and self-isolation is “practically impossible” in countries with overcrowded detention facilities, she warned.

The high commissioner urged authorities to examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, among them older detainees and those who are sick, as well as low-risk offenders.

The IPRT is “particularly concerned about elderly people and people with complex medical conditions” in Irish prisons, Ms Ní Chinnéide said.

She continued: “The state has a duty to protect the life and health of those in its care, and these groups are particularly vulnerable to serious complications from COVID-19.

“Decision-making on release must be guided by medical assessment and immediate public safety concerns.

“A severe outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons among would have serious implications for an already over-stretched prison healthcare service and for prison staff.”

The penal reform group is “also concerned at the levels of remand committals at this time”, she said, noting that there were 392 men in Cloverhill Prison yesterday with the majority sharing triple-cells.

Ms Ní Chinnéide said: “Pre-trial detention should always be an exceptional measure but this is absolutely critical now.”