Overcrowding in Cork Prison is so acute that prisoners are being released early to make way for new committals, the prison's visiting committee has said.
The revelation, which is contained in the committee's 2006 annual report, contradicts statements by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, who last week denied a "revolving-door" system was operating at the prison.
When it emerged then that 470 inmates were released early from Cork Prison last year, Mr McDowell, through a spokeswoman, said the releases were part of structured and planned sentence management and were not related to overcrowding.
However, referring to the overcrowding issue, the visiting committee report published yesterday states: "In many cases prisoners have to be released to make the necessary room available for the incoming committals."
Mr McDowell is in the United States for St Patrick's Day celebrations but a spokesman last night reiterated the comments of last week.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service denied early releases were being used to control numbers in Cork Prison.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe TD, who raised the Cork Prison overcrowding issue last week, said the visiting committee report "confirms entirely" his view that the revolving-door system was in operation at the jail. He said Spike Island prison in Cork should not have been closed to save money without provision being made for extra spaces in the region.
The Cork jail regularly holds between 250 and 280 inmates, despite being designed for 150.
The visiting committee report for Cork was among eight such reports published by the Department of Justice yesterday. A spokesman said the reports for the other prisons, including Mountjoy, Loughan House and Limerick, had not yet been received.
The data released yesterday were for Cork, Castlerea, Arbour Hill, Shelton Abbey, Portlaoise, the Midlands Prison, Cloverhill and Wheatfield.
All contain numerous positive observations concerning standards of hygiene, recreational and educational facilities, treatment of inmates and general operations within the prisons.
However, serious concerns are raised in many key areas. These include overcrowding and the continued availability of smuggled drugs and mobile phones.
The committal to prison of psychiatrically ill inmates was mentioned as a cause for concern by the visiting committees of Castlerea, Arbour Hill and the Midlands.
In Arbour Hill one prisoner was last year forced to wait for 43 days before a bed became available in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). The Midlands Prison committee noted that the shortage of beds at the CMH was now "chronic".
The report for Castlerea noted overcrowding there had reached record levels last year. The Midlands committee said there was only one psychologist for more than 450 inmates despite many of these being sex offenders and life-sentence prisoners.
The report on Cloverhill mentioned bullying and racism. Some parts of Portlaoise Prison were described as "deplorable" and there was no psychologist at the jail.
Prison visiting committees are appointed by the Minister for Justice. Each committee numbers between 10 and 12 members who visit their designated jails during planned and unannounced visits throughout the year to ensure they are operating satisfactorily.
Each committee compiles a report at the end of the year containing observations and recommendations.
These are submitted to the Minister at the end of the year.
