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The unavailability of gluten-free food, mashed potatoes with every meal, cockroaches in a prison cell and clothes shrunk from the laundry were just some of the complaints made by inmates of Mountjoy Prison in 2024.
According to the 2024 annual report of the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee (MPVC), which highlighted the overcrowding situation at the prison, staff shortages put strain on the system and prison population with up to 35pc of the prisoners on protected status.
In their 27-page report submitted to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, the visiting committee states that the over-crowding situation is worsening, with numbers in custody at 118% of capacity at the end of 2024.
The MPVC has recommended to the Irish Prison Service to address “the poor and often degrading prison conditions” including overcrowding where men have to toilet in front of one another in their cells.
The MPVC state in many of those doubled-up cells one prisoner has to sleep on a mattress on the floor, either with his head beside the base of the cell toilet or by the cell door where he is in danger of being hit by the door if it has to be opened for some urgent need.
Number of complaints received in 2024 increased by 46%
In their report the MPVC state that it wishes to emphasise, once again, that a doubled up cell with two men in a space designed for one man “is a very degrading and unhygienic environment for both men”.
The committee state that “more generally, prisoners are continuing to live in poor cell conditions in certain parts of the prison. We have received complaints of wet cell wails, of cold cells, of broken toilets, of leaking sinks and of unhygienic conditions”.
The overcrowding situation has worsened further in 2025 with the latest IPS statistics showing numbers in custody at 136% of capacity on 24 December this year, which included 178 prisoners sleeping on cell mattresses.
The MPVC stated that the number of complaints it received in 2024 increased by 46% to 373 on the 256 complaints received in 2023.
The most complaints received at 45 concerned cells/accommodation issues, while 44 complaints were made relating to visiting issues. The MPVC received 26 complaints from in-mates concerning television channels arising mainly from loss of various channels from in-cell TVs.
The committee received eight complaints concerning prison food and included “mash with every meal, gluten free food not available, no healthy breakfast option and chicken served too often”.
The same number of complaints were made concerning the prison laundry, which included “clothes shrunk from laundry or returned with burn marks”.
On the issue of hygiene, five complaints were made and included “cockroaches in cell. Dead pigeon on window ledge of cells”.
The MPVC received 14 complaints under the heading of “Other” which included “general unhappiness with how being treated; frequency of phone calls; loss of minor benefits; unhappy with poor conditions in the prison, in particular constant curtailment of services due to staff shortages”.
The committee received 10 complaints concerning ‘Visitors Refused’ and the complaints arose from “Visitors refused for failing swab test; visitors barred from visiting due to several swab test failures; complaints about use and validity of swabbing of visitors”.
Little help available for transition back into society
Nineteen complaints were received under the heading of Education and they included “school regularly closed; lack of consistent schooling – only 45 minutes per week over last three weeks; maximum 2 x 1 hour school per week; no laptops for many doing Open University courses and no in-cell education available.
Five complaints were received under the heading of “Pre-release preparation and fear of homelessness” including “little help available for transition back into society, feeling unprepared for release; concerns regarding resettlement and fears for safety; that only hostel accommodation will be available which is considered a dangerous environment”.
Elsewhere the report states that during 2024, the proportion of Mountjoy prisoners under a restrictive regime due to fear of harm to themselves, or to be at risk of harm from others was approximately one third of all prisoners.
The majority of those prisoners would spend 21 to 22 hours per day in their cell for their own protection.
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