A new report into Castlerea prison has raised concerns over a drop in the number of staff required to provide a full range of services to inmates.
Prisoners and staff in Castlerea prison have been described as having a good working relationship which aids the day-to-day running of the facility according to the 2019 annual report of the visiting committee for the Roscommon jail.
The five person committee carries out regular visits to the prison to inspect multiple areas within the walls of the prison, and to report back any concerns to the Department of Justice.
The 2019 reports finds that the prison is well run with courteous staff and the good relationship between staff and prisoners lends itself to the facility being well run.
The committee did raise concerns over staffing levels - noting that due to retirements and transfers, the staff numbers were eight fewer than the 215 required for prisoners to access work and training, education and other facilities.
The committee also highlighted issues around booking of prison visits, as well as the work of the parole board suffering because of a reduction in staff at the prison.
The committee found the number of self harm or incidents of attempted suicide had declined and that up to 300 prisoners per week were accessing the jail's 'Tuck shop'.
The committee also paid tribute to its former chairman Martin Daly, who died in December 2019 and described the prison as well run with professional and courteous staff.
Responding to the report, the IPS says it accepts there are a number of times when the availability of staff has an impact on the provision of services to prisoners, and this is primarily due to the absence of staff due to the necessary redeployment of staff support essential to operational requirements such as the escorting of prisoners to and from court.
They also confirm that a comprehensive recruitment process has resulted in 334 new recruit prison officers join the IPS since 1st January 2019.
