Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
16. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration given that the prison estate is currently operating at 120% to 125% capacity, the work he is doing to reduce overcrowding within our prisons. [35603/26]
View answerI am acutely aware of the capacity constraints in our prisons and the resulting challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the courts and has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.
I am pursuing a dual approach to address the issue of prison overcrowding by both increasing prison capacity and pursuing further measures to support increased use of non-custodial sanctions.
Since 2024, 232 spaces have been constructed across the Prison Estate, with 126 coming in 2024 and 106 in 2025. There are plans in place to build another 65 spaces in 2026.
On conclusion of the NDP Review in July 2025, I secured a record capital investment of €528 million from 2026 to 2030, of which €495 million is being invested in building projects to further increase capacity, with an overall target of delivering over 1,500 spaces by 2031.
This will include a large extension to the existing Cork Prison, a new block in Wheatfield, and an additional block extension at Midlands prison. This is in addition to spaces created at Castlerea, Mountjoy and the Dóchas Centre.
Measures to support non-custodial sanctions are as important as building new prison capacity. Legislative changes, including increasing the maximum community service hours to 480 and requiring the judiciary to consider community service for sentences of two years or less, are included in the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 which is currently before the Dáil.
Budget 2026 also provides for a 13% increase in funding for the Probation Service. This additional funding will be used to increase the use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts, expand restorative justice services, and expand supervised temporary release schemes nationally.
The Programme for Government commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of people, including those on Temporary Release and on bail. Under Budget 2026 funding of €2.1 million was allocated for the project to allow for staffing, procurement, and other set-up costs. The tender closed recently and I expect that the contract for the pilot will be awarded in the near future.
