Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2024
344. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of different cell or room types of accommodation for prisoners, by metric size, not including the sanitary annex, for all prisons and open centres in the prison estate, by individual prison (details supplied). [24074/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed that the Irish Prison Service completed a comprehensive audit of cellular accommodation in March 2021 across the prison estate which gathered data on the size of prison cells.
The prison estate in Ireland includes a mix of accommodation types including basic prison cells, en-suite rooms, dormitory style accommodation, wheelchair accessible cells, and special observation cells. Prison accommodation blocks range in age of construction from accommodation built in the mid-19th Century to the most recent high standard accommodation opened in Limerick Prison last year.
Prison accommodation has evolved significantly in terms of size and facilities in recent years with all new cells now built to 12 meters square with a full sanitary suite including toilet, wash hand basin and shower area.
The information requested by the Deputy relating to the number of different cell or room types of accommodation for prisoners, by metric size, for all prisons and open centres in the prison estate is set out in the attached tables.
The information provided in the tables includes the total floor space of each prison cell/room including the sanitary facilities. Information on the size of cells/rooms excluding sanitary facilities is not readily available and would require a manual examination/survey of all prison cells. In the context of limited resources, such an examination would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and resources which could not be justified.
