Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 April 2025
136. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice the steps being taken to address the 48% overcrowding in Limerick Women's Prison; and whether any female prisoners have been transferred abroad or to Garda stations due to lack of capacity. [21488/25]
View answerI can confirm that no female prisoners have been transferred abroad or to Garda stations due to lack of capacity.
A Prison Overcrowding Response Group (PORG) was established in July 2023, composed of officials from the Department of Justice and representatives from relevant agencies. The Group is considering measures to address capacity issues in the prison estate. In June 2024, following a report from this Group, a range of actions were agreed and work to implement these is ongoing.Two actions, concerning a new structured temporary release for women and the creation of a specialised Probation Service response for scaling, have been combined and a pilot scheme has been established targeting women serving custodial sentences of 18 months or less in Limerick’s Female Prison.In recent years, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by in excess of 300 additional spaces.
The Irish Prison Service capital budget is €53m in 2025, an increase of €22.5m on the original 2024 allocation, focused on bringing additional prison spaces into the system. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with the Department of Justice to progress plans to bring on stream accommodation to support the target of 1,500 additional prison places as set out under the Programme for Government.
