A NUMBER of prisoners with severe mental illnesses have been forced to sleep on the floor of a Dublin jail as a result of overcrowding.
The prisoners are being forced to sleep on the floor at Cloverhill prison because of a lack of room at Central Mental Hospital.
Staff working with vulnerable inmates at Cloverhill are of Dublin have told The Irish Times there are about 30 people who are actively psychotic and are awaiting a bed at Central Mental Hospital.
Staff working on the D2 landing of the prison have described the situation as "unprecedented".
A lack of access to drug treatment facilities and mental health services is partly to blame but it is claimed the problem is most acute because the CMH is full.
Furthermore, inmates are also being forced to spend longer in isolation cells, known as special observation cells (SOCs), for their own safety due to a lack of qualified staff to review them for release.
