Prisoners in Irish jails were hit with disciplinary punishment more than 16,000 times last year, including loss of remission on sentences, reduced visits or a ban on sending and receiving letters.
Figures released by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) show that the most common punishment for breaking the rules was a “prohibition on specific activities [or] evening recreation” which was meted out 5,627 times.
There were 4,065 sets of disciplinary proceedings where an inmate was temporarily banned from using “money [or] credit.”
The IPS said 1,858 prisoners had been dealt with by restricting the number of phone calls they could make to family to just one a week.
A further 1,373 inmates were told they could only have a single visit from a family member over a certain time due to a breach of prison rules.
Other punishments included 1,020 prisoners who were temporarily barred from “specific activities [or] use of gym” and 225 cases where there was a “forfeiture of a gratuity credited or to be credited.”
The figures also detail 403 cases where an individual was “required to wear prison clothes” and 1,623 where a person was given a caution.
Other punishments handed down included a solitary case of “confinement in cell” and 84 cases where a person lost out on remission of their sentence, usually considered the most serious disciplinary measure.
There were also 132 reprimands, 14 cases where a prisoner was not allowed to be in possession of “specific articles” and 35 where there was a temporary ban on sending or receiving personal letters.
Altogether, there were 16,111 disciplinary cases behind prison walls in 2023, but the Irish Prison Service refused to provide details of the jails where punishment was most common.
In response to a request under Freedom of Information, they said a breakdown “could be expected to compromise the operational security of the prisons and undermine the ability of the IPS to manage … prisons.”
The Irish Prison Service also claimed it could involve disclosure of personal information, and the case is now the subject of an appeal.
A spokesman said that when a prisoner is found in breach of prison rules, a disciplinary procedure can begin under what is known as the P19 system.
He said: “Such sanction(s) are normally in the format of loss of certain privileges such as reduced phone calls, reduced visits, prohibition on the use of the gym, prohibition on use of the tuck shop etc., for defined periods of time.
“At the higher end of the scale, governors can also reduce remission, which in effect lengthens the period of time a prisoner is required to remain in prison.”
The spokesman added that prisoners have a right to a hearing within seven days, an option to appeal to the minister, or where sentence remission is involved, to an independent tribunal.
He added that the Irish Prison Service also offers an incentivised regimes policy to provide tangible incentives for good behaviour and to prisoners pursuing constructive activities.
