Budget 2025

Tuesday, 8 October 2024

Questions (379, 378)

Pa Daly

Question:

379. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice to outline how much of the money allocated to the prison service in Budget 2025 is for new measures, existing level of service and other. [40193/24]

View answer

Pa Daly

Question:

378. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice to outline how much of the €37.6 million allocated to funding the prison service in Budget 2025 that is for the public sector pay deal. [40192/24]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I propose to take Questions Nos. 379 and 378 together.

I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service has been allocated a budget of €525m for 2025 to increase prison capacity and tackle overcrowding. This is an increase of €79m or 18%.

I can also advise the Deputy that the capital budget for the Irish Prison Service will increase by over 70% in 2025 as part of the plan to deliver 1,100 extra spaces, including over 150 in 2024.

I can further advise that the Irish Prison Service’s pay budget in 2024 was €319m. It is intended that an additional €37.6m will be allocated to the Irish Prison Service pay budget for 2025, with approximately €14.9m expected to provide for the public sector pay deal. An additional 150 staff will be hired in 2025, in addition to 240 prison officers recruited in 2024.

Funding has also been secured for approximately 130,000 additional staff hours in 2025. Additional hours are applied to support the prisons in meeting demands in excess of the rostered hours of officers. Factors which influence the demands are the prisoner and staff demographics and the prison environment, including the requirement to escort prisoners to and from court, and the large increase in our prisoner population.