Tackling violence in our prisons will help reduce the number of prisoners spending their days in solitary confinement.
That's the chief finding of an Irish Penal Reform Trust report which calls for an end to the practice.
The research has found that more than one in ten prisoners are being held in their cell for 19 hours or more per day.
Executive Director of The Irish Penal Reform Trust Deirdre Malone says the majority requested a 'restricted regime' for their own safety:
She added: “Our goal is ambitious but achievable – the abolition of solitary confinement in Ireland in the short term; the gradual elimination of the use of restricted regimes with a minimum out-of-cell time at 8 hours per day; and an ultimate target of 12 hours out-of-cell time daily for all prisoners across the prison estate.”
The new report is being launched at an event in Dublin later this morning, which will include a keynote address from former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Méndez.
