I propose to take Questions Nos. 250, 251 and 252 together.
I am informed by the Irish Prison Service that the total number of prisoners in custody on Wednesday 10th December 2025 was 5,797, compared with a bed capacity of 4,702. This represents an occupancy level of 124%. Each day the statistics including the percentage occupancy of each prison are published on the IPS website (www.irishprisons.ie). This information can be found in the Information Centre under Statistics & Information.
The 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 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.
I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that the average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space during the calendar year 2024 was €99,072 or €8,256 per month. This includes net expenditure incurred within the year (such as salaries, utilities/maintenance, ICT, prison services, etc.) excluding capital expenditure on buildings, ICT and vehicle purchases.
In response to the current challenges, I have secured a record capital investment of €527 million to IPS over the next 5 years, of which €495 million will be invested in building projects to further increase capacity. The target is to deliver over 1,500 new spaces by 2031. This will be the largest ever building programme in the prison estate and will include a large extension to the existing Cork Prison, on the site of the old decommissioned Cork Prison, a new block in Wheatfield, an additional block extension at Midlands prison, and additional spaces at Castlerea, Mountjoy, Cloverhill Portlaoise, Limerick and Dóchas.
I am also committed to progressing and implementing policies aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions, that seek to 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 overcrowding 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 the actions which I have taken 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 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 also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of prisoner. I had previously committed to the publication of a Request for Tender (RFT) for the provision of an electronic monitoring service provider by the end of 2025. This Request for Tender has now been published, with a closing date of the 16 January 2026 at 5pm. Budget 2026 allocated funding of €2.1m for the project to allow for staffing, procurement, and other set up costs.
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.
