Gary Gannon
Question:107. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice the projected recruitment pipeline for prison officers in 2025 to 2027; the projected attrition rate; and the expected net staffing change. [21490/25]
View answerWednesday, 30 April 2025
Questions (107)
Written answers
I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service continually monitors the staffing requirements of, and vacancies that arise in, the organisation. The Irish Prison Service routinely reviews the resource requirement across the estate based on the prisoner cohort and the expanding prison population.
The staff requirement has increased to meet demand on the service. Recruitment campaigns are put in place as required and since 2016 the Irish Prison Service, in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service, has run seven Recruit Prison Officer campaigns.
Recruit Prison Officer campaigns have launched annually since 2022 and it is expected that this will continue in the coming years. Planning is underway for the launch of the 2025 campaign in July. The Irish Prison Service aims to recruit 300 prison officers in 2025.
Prison Officers leaving the Irish Prison Service do so primarily on the basis of retirement. Prison Officers (excluding Single Scheme post 01/01/2013 hires) can retire at between 50 and 55 years of age, if they have 30 years of actual Prison Service completed. All Prison Officers can retire, regardless of service, on reaching their 55th birthday.
The Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 came into law on 19/08/2024. This extended the Mandatory retirement Age (MRA) from 60 to 62. This means that there are no compulsory retirements of Prison Officers due until 19/08/2026 at the earliest and this makes forecasting retirement levels somewhat more challenging. Nevertheless the historical pattern of retirement in the Irish Prison Service is that approximately 20% of the eligible cohort of staff in any given year tend to retire. On that basis it is estimated that there could be 300 retirements between 2025 and 2027.