Dozens of prisoners sleeping on the floor in Limerick Prison amid overcrowding crisis

DOZENS of prisoners are regularly sleeping on mattresses on the floor at Limerick Prison, due to the continuing overcrowding, it has been confirmed.

Overdoses and drug seizures have also become commonplace, new figures have revealed. 

The Irish Prison Service says 85 men were sleeping on mattresses on the floor on one date earlier this month. The facility, on Mulgrave Street, has an operational capacity of 367 prisoners yet 422 prisoners were detained there on that date. 

A total of eight drug overdoses have been reported in Limerick prison since August 2024 while nearly 50 drug seizures have been recorded so far in 2025 - representing a significant increase.

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Limerick TD Conor Sheehan says the increase in drug seizures across Irish prisons is "deeply worrying" and points to a system under real strain.

"While it’s welcome that drugs are being intercepted, the sheer scale of these seizures shows how pervasive addiction remains behind bars. Overcrowding, understaffing, and a lack of proper treatment programmes are allowing the cycle of addiction and reoffending to continue unchecked," he told Live 95.

Minister for Justice, Jim O’ Callaghan recently stated in response to a Parliamentary Question that over 70% of people committed to prison "have issues with drug addiction.”

Limerick prison currently employs three addiction counsellors, meaning that there is approximately one counsellor per every 159 prisoners. In 2024 the Department for Justice revealed that 97 people in Limerick prison were on the waiting list for addiction counselling treatment. 

When asked about the increase in drug seizures at Limerick prison, a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service stated: “Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carries out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons”. 

General secretary of the Irish Prison Officers' Association Karl Dalton told RTÉ News the problem of overcrowding and drugs are interlinked in the prison system: “Unfortunately when you have that much overcrowding, you have no school spaces, you have no workshop spaces; that leads to the onslaught of drugs.”

In 2024, the national rate of prisoners sleeping on mattresses increased by 156%, while the intake of prisoners rose by almost 10% in comparison to 2023’s figures.