Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
743. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of persons currently in custody who are non-Irish nationals; the length of sentence being served by each; the offence category for which they were convicted; and the length of time each individual had been a resident in the State prior to committing the offence, for each of the past 5 years, in tabular form. [72213/25]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that this Government remains focused on reducing re-offending, including by diverting people, where appropriate, from the criminal justice system and ensuring the underlying causes of offending behaviour are addressed.
The Irish Prison Service has advised that the number of persons currently in custody who are non-Irish nationals; the length of sentence being served by each and the offence category for which they were convicted is as outlined in the tables below. These statistics have been taken from the most recent snapshot of the prison population, conducted on 30 November 2025. There was a total of 1,038 non-nationals in custody at this time, of which 675 were serving a custodial sentence.
|
Nationality Group |
Female |
Male |
Total |
% |
|
African |
8 |
141 |
149 |
14.4 |
|
Asian |
3 |
84 |
87 |
8.4 |
|
British |
5 |
123 |
128 |
12.3 |
|
Central American |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
European Union |
21 |
487 |
508 |
48.9 |
|
Middle East |
0 |
21 |
21 |
2.0 |
|
North American |
2 |
11 |
13 |
1.3 |
|
Oceania |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
Other European |
5 |
58 |
63 |
6.1 |
|
South American |
6 |
61 |
67 |
6.5 |
|
Total |
50 |
988 |
1,038 |
100.0 |
|
Offence Group Description |
<3 Mths |
3 to <6 Mths |
6 to <12 Mths |
1 to <2 Yrs |
2 to <3 Yrs |
3 to <5 Yrs |
5 to <10 Yrs |
10+ Yrs |
Life Sentences |
Total |
|
Homicide Offences |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
41 |
56 |
|
Sexual Offences |
0 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
12 |
30 |
59 |
47 |
0 |
161 |
|
Attempts/Threat to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and Related Offences |
1 |
2 |
8 |
23 |
18 |
23 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
92 |
|
Dangerous or Negligent Acts |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
|
0 |
23 |
|
Kidnapping and Related Offences |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
Robbery, Extortion and Hijacking Offences |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
|
Burglary and Related Offences |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
|
Theft and Related Offences |
0 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
5 |
12 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
50 |
|
Fraud, Deception and Related Offences |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
|
Controlled Drug Offences |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
24 |
73 |
45 |
16 |
0 |
169 |
|
Weapons and Explosives Offences |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
|
Damage to Property and the Environment |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
|
Public Order and Social Code Offences |
2 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
|
Road and Traffic Offences |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
Offences against Government, Justice Procedures and Organisation of Crime |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
|
Offences Not Elsewhere Classified |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
Total |
5 |
23 |
36 |
76 |
82 |
180 |
153 |
79 |
41 |
675 |
The Irish Prison Service is not in a position to provide statistics on the length of time each individual had been a resident in the State prior to committing the offence.
The Irish Prison Service publishes statistical information, including the daily prisoner population and a monthly detailed statistical report on their website [www.irishprisons.ie] in the Information Centre – under Statistics & Information.
