Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 15 February 2024

Public Accounts Committee

Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 24 - Justice
Vote 21 - Prisons

9:30 am

Ms Caron McCaffrey:

What percentage have never committed a previous offence? I would say it is very small. Many people, when they get their first custodial sentence, would have had the benefit of probation and other interventions before a judge made a decision to enforce a custodial sentence, so the significant majority of people who are in custody would not be there for their first offence and might have had previous offences.