Prison Chaplains Slam System As Dysfunctional

People who are mentally ills are being abandoned in Irish prisons where there is little or no hope of treatment or any form of rehabilitation.

Prison chaplains have today slammed the prison system, which they describe as dysfunctional and faltering from one crisis to another.

The annual Prison Chaplains' Report, just published, has criticised attempts to rehabilitate prisoners as totally inadequate.

It says mentally ill people are still being put in prison and no significant progress has been made in the last 25 years.

The report also criticises the building of more prison places and says imprisonment has been virtually the only response to crime.

The prison chaplain's report paints a picture of a Dickensian prison system where significant numbers of inmates walk aimlessly around prison yards or sleep through the best part of the day in violent drug-infested institutions with little hope of rehabilitation.

The chaplains say that more prisoners are seeking protection and serving sentences on almost constant lock-up.

The report particularly highlights the lack of drug treatment available to inmates many of whom become drug addicts in prison.

The clerics also said there are not enough either preventative programmes to stop people getting involved in crime or to stop them re-offending once released.

There is also criticism of the imprisonment of children. The report said prisons are holding the most needy, troubled and damaged young people in the State, almost all of whom left school with no qualification, half are illiterate and many even at this young age are addicted and homeless.

(BMcC/JM)