Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
746. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if the ongoing practice of temporary release is linked to prison overcrowding or capacity constraints; the current occupancy rate across the prison estate; and the measures being taken to address this without compromising community safety [63012/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the Courts. As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.
Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, on a daily basis, my officials in the Irish Prison Service manage overcrowding through the use of temporary release. Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made.
All applications for temporary release are assessed by the Irish Prison Service on a case-by-case basis, and before a final determination is made a range of factors are taken into account including:
• the nature and gravity of the offence to which the sentence relates;
• the sentence concerned and any recommendation made by the Court in relation to the sentence imposed;
• the person's previous criminal record;
• the potential threat to the safety and security of the public should the person be released;
• the risk that the person might commit an offence during any period of temporary release;
• the risk of the person failing to comply with any of the conditions of temporary release.
Any prisoner who breaches his or her conditions, including by committing a criminal offence, may be arrested and returned to prison immediately by Gardaí or may be refused another period of reviewable temporary release.
If a person re-offends on temporary release, the issue of their prosecution is a matter for An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider.
I am informed by my officials in the Prison Service that the total number of prisoners in custody on Monday 17 November 2025 was 5,713 compared with a bed capacity of 4,702. This represents an occupancy level of 122%.
A record capital investment of €527 million is being provided to IPS over the next 5 years, of which €495 million will be invested in building projects to further increase capacity. This will provide for the largest investment in the prison estate in the history of the State. The target is to deliver on a plan to build 1,595 individual prison spaces by 2031.
I am committed to progressing and implementing policies aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions, that reduce offending, divert people away from imprisonment, and provide effective rehabilitation.
In April, I launched the Community Service - New Directions Implementation Plan 2025-2027. This plan sets out Probation Service commitments to drive the delivery and support the increased use of Community Service as a robust and meaningful alternative to imprisonment.
A range of actions to address capacity issues in our prisons was also agreed in June 2024 following on from the report of the Prison Overcrowding Response Group and work to implement these actions is ongoing.
Among these actions was the introduction in 2024 of a pilot Structured Temporary Release Scheme for suitable candidates in Limerick Women’s Prison. Recognising the positive impact of the pilot so far, the eligibility criteria for the scheme is now being extended on a phased basis to include more women in the prison.
Another of these actions is to amend legislation to increase the maximum number of hours that can be imposed under a community service order from 240 to 480 hours. The amendment will also require a judge to consider a community service order if a sentence of up to two years is being considered, rather than the current one year requirement. These amendments have been included in the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 which I published on 6 May 2025.
The Bill also includes a range of measures which will bring welcome changes across a range of areas, improving operational capacity in our prisons and bolstering sentencing options to reduce reliance on custodial sentences.
Budget 2026 provides an 11% increase in funding for the Probation Service, allowing for the recruitment of 100 additional staff. This additional funding will be used to increase use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts, expand restorative justice services, and expand supervised temporary release schemes nationally.
The Programme for Government also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of prisoner. I would like to assure the Deputy that work is underway to operationalise electronic monitoring. Budget 2026 allocated funding of €2.1m for the project to allow for staffing, procurement, and other set up costs. It is intended to go to tender for an electronic monitoring provider this year.
Taken together, these actions demonstrate that this Government and I are committed to delivering one of the fastest-ever expansions of prison capacity in Ireland and increasing and enhancing community based alternatives to imprisonment.
