Iprt

Penal reform campaigners have urged the new Taoiseach to tackle "the root causes of offending" instead of focusing on "harsher penalties and prison expansion". In a letter to Simon Harris, the head of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) said it has concerns about current "political rhetoric... and t

The overwhelming majority of Irish employers say they would consider hiring someone with a history of convictions, but significant barriers remain to making this a reality, new research by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) suggests. The NGO today published a new report titled "The Secondary Punish

There are close to 300 children in the State whose mothers are imprisoned, with devastating effects on the children and their families, according to a new report. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) estimates that 278 children are impacted by maternal imprisonment and recommends that the courts take

Ireland's prisons are full, according to new figures showing the total number of people in prison in the State now exceeds the number of beds available. The number of prisoners across the State yesterday reached 4,416, five more than the total 4,411 beds across all prisons. One prison — Limeri

Irish law must be urgently changed to ensure that defendants who turn 18 while awaiting trial continue to be dealt with through the child justice system, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has been told. Molly Joyce, acting executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT),

Barrister Molly Joyce has been appointed as acting executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). Having worked as the legal and public affairs manager in IPRT since November 2020, Ms Joyce has this month assumed the position of acting executive director while IPRT's executive director S

Foreign nationals and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are receiving longer prison sentences for drug offences and sexual offences than white Irish people, new research suggests. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) today launched a new report on the rights, needs and experiences of foreign na

Penal experts have given a cautious welcome to new European figures showing Ireland has a relatively low prison population rate compared to other European countries. The Council of Europe's annual penal statistics, known as SPACE I, show that Ireland had a prison population rate of 74.4 per 100,000

Human rights lawyer Saoirse Brady has been appointed as the next executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). Ms Brady, currently head of legal, policy and public affairs at the Children's Rights Alliance, will take up the role with effect from Tuesday 3 May 2022, succeeding Fío

The penal system has regressed over the last five years in key areas of practice, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has said. In its latest Progress in the Penal System (PIPS) report, IPRT measured progress in the penal system against international human rights standards and best practice, coverin

Ireland is one of only 20 countries in the world where more than 80 per cent of prisoners had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccination by the end of September 2021, according to a new report. The first-ever in-depth review of policies and practices related to Covid-19 vaccination in pris

Ireland's treatment of prisoners will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council working group as part of Ireland's third universal period review (UPR) later today. States will put questions to Ireland this afternoon on its performance across a number of human rights treaties. The Irish delegation w

A new report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has highlighted several gaps in policy and practice where the needs of children with a parent in prison are being overlooked. The report, Piecing it Together: Supporting Children and Families with a Family Member in Prison in Ireland, is being laun

Prison authorities have been urged to ensure that security screening is conducted in a way that respects "the individual dignity of prisoners, prison staff and visitors to prison" following a complaint from a solicitor. Security processes in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) have come under greater scr

Self-harm incidents in Irish prisons are declining but there are worrying increases in rates of self-harm among women and people on remand, new figures show. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) yesterday published its third annual report on self-harm in Irish prisons, which covers the year 2019 – s