No room at the inn - Laois jails bulging at the seams going into Christmas
There was no room for new prisoners at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise while the neighbouring Portlaoise Prison is almost almost at capacity just days before Christmas.
Irish Prison Service (IPS) figures show that there were Midlands 877 inmates in the Midlands on Tuesday, December 20. While the jail has 875 beds, the IPS says the jail is operating at 100% of bed capacity.
A total of 899 prisoners are 'in the system' at the Midlands. There were 14 on temporary release with a further 113 defined as 'trial/remand'.
Meanwhile, next door in Portlaoise Prison there were Portlaoise 222 inmates locked up. That's just short of the 231 bed capacity with the IPS reporting a 96% occupancy rate.
The IPS says there are 224 'in the system' with two on temporary release with a further 18 defined as 'trial/remand'. The biggest block in the high-security jail had just three space on December 20 with 178 of 181 beds filled. There was no space in the small E1 wing which has 10 prisoners. There were just six spare spaces in A Block which has a 40 bed capacity.
Mountjoy, male and femle, Limerick, male and female, Castlerea were all operating at or above capacity on December 20.