The Office of the Inspector of Prisons was established pursuant to Section 30 of the Prisons Act 2007 (“the Act”) in January 2007. The Inspector of Prisons is appointed by the Minister for Justice to perform the functions conferred on her by Part 5 of the Act. Patricia Gilheaney is the current Inspector and was appointed on 7 May 2018 for a five year term in office subject to the provisions of Section 30 of the Act. The Inspector of Prisons is independent in the performance of her functions. The key function of any inspectorate body is to carry out inspections and this is equally true for the role of Inspector of Prisons. Section 31(1) of the Act places an obligation on the Inspector of Prisons to carry out regular inspections of prisons. Although the legislation does not define ‘regular inspections’, international practice indicates a full inspection every three years as the sector norm.

In 2020, the overall prison population fluctuated in response to efforts made by the IPSto reduce the prison population as a COVID-19 transmission prevention measure. Figure 1 captures the prison population as it stood on 1 January, 12 March, 27 March (commencement of first lockdown), 13 April, 29 June (end of first lockdown), 21 October (commencement of second lockdown), 1 December (end of second lockdown) and 31 December 2020.