Irish Prison Service denies impeding inspections in Portlaoise
The report stated that there were five deaths recorded at Midlands Prison last year
The Irish Prison Service(IPS) denied impeding inspections by the Office of the Inspector of Prisons(OIP) at the Midlands Prison in 2025.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons Mark Kelly complained that the IPS had on two occasions in November 2025 had impeded his staff from carrying out inspections at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.
“Unfortunately, towards the end of the year, the unblemished cooperation record of the Irish Prison Service was marred by attempts to impose constraints on the OIP’s operational autonomy during a thematic inspection of the treatment of older people living in prison. This ultimately led to the suspension of the inspection, and I issued a Statutory Notice of Concern to the Director of the Irish Prison Service,” Mr Kelly stated in the OIP’s annual report.
The thematic inspections were examining the needs of people 50 and over in the prison system.
“Following attempts to interfere with the operational autonomy of the inspection team at Midlands Prison on 13 and 14 November 2025, the Chief Inspector of Prisons wrote to the Governor of the Midlands Prison and the Director General of the Irish Prison Service,” the report states. It says the situation arose again at the Dóchas Centre in Dublin in November of 2025.
“Despite a meeting at IPS Headquarters with the Director General and her team, as well as an extensive exchange of correspondence, this regrettable situation remained unresolved at year end,” the OIP report notes.
In a statement the IPS said it acknowledged the publication of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons 2025 Annual Report and recognised the important role independent oversight plays in driving continuous improvement across the prison system.
“Prison environments are inherently complex operational settings and require appropriate risk management arrangements and safe systems of work to ensure activities are conducted in an appropriate manner. As part of its continuous improvement programme and ongoing review of risk management arrangements across the prison estate, the Irish Prison Service continues to review operational activities and associated safety controls to ensure risks are appropriately identified, assessed and managed in line with its statutory obligations,” they stated.
The IPS said it engaged extensively and constructively with the OIP regarding inspections. It stated that throughout the engagement it sought to clarify and assure in relation to the risk.
“The objective of this engagement was to ensure appropriate protections were in place and to determine whether existing operational controls could reasonably be adjusted while maintaining safety standards,” the IPS said.
READ ALSO: Overcrowding at Midlands Prison is an 'indictment of Government neglect’ say furious prison officers
“The Irish Prison Service rejects any suggestion that these engagements were intended to impede operational independence or oversight activity. At all times during the thematic inspections, Office of the Inspector of Prisons staff were facilitated in accessing prisons, prisoners, staff, operational areas and documentation. The operational arrangements implemented by Governors were intended solely to support safety and did not impede or restrict the Inspectorate in carrying out its statutory functions,” the IPS stated.
They said “engagement between both organisations remains ongoing, and the Irish Prison Service continues to seek further clarification and supporting safety documentation to inform the assessment of operational arrangements and associated control measures.”
In conclusion, the IPS said it remains committed to constructive engagement with the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and to ensuring inspection activity can continue safely and effectively in the interests of accountability, transparency and continuous improvement across the prison system.
The OIP annual report recorded five deaths in the Midlands Prison in 2025, three in custody, one in hospital and one within a month of temporary release from the jail.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that the population in Ireland’s prisons “is inching ever closer to the grim milestone of 6,000 people, for a bed capacity of just 4,736. As I write, 5909 people are in prison custody, over 10% of whom are not even being provided with a bed. That 599 people are being obliged to sleep on mattresses on the floor in overcrowded cells next to unpartitioned toilets is a national disgrace.”
He explained that he has spoken about the “scourge of overcrowding” on many occasions and raised the issue with every Minister for Justice since 2022.
He said he has yet to see a Minister “grasp the nettle” of resolving the crisis of prison overcrowding with the required degree of bold political action.