Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Brabazon for the question. I am very aware of the capacity issues that exist in our prisons, and challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons as a result. The current programme for Government commits to increasing the capacity of our prisons by an additional 1,500 spaces, and the Irish Prison Service has already begun work to achieve this. Since January 2022, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by more than 300 new spaces, with 126 delivered in 2024 and 40 delivered to date in 2025, with plans to deliver a further 101 additional spaces by the end this year.

Budget 2025 increased overall funding to the Irish Prison Service by €79 million, or 18%, when compared to 2024, bringing the total allocated to nearly €525 million. This increase is to fund measures to address overcrowding, including a capital budget of €53 million, which is €22.5 million more than the original 2024 allocation. The Irish Prison Service also aims to recruit up to 300 prison officers in 2025, in addition to the 271 prison officers recruited in 2024.

The future prison capacity working group was established back in 2024 to further consider future prison capacity needs and to make recommendations on the numbers and types of prison capacity needed out to 2035. I brought the report of this working group to Cabinet recently and it will be published shortly. I also recently brought to Cabinet a proposal to accelerate the delivery of 960 additional prison spaces by utilising an exemption from the initial approval stages of the infrastructure guidelines for these projects.

That is the public spending code. This will enable accelerated delivery with timelines reduced by 12 months to 18 months. Overall, there are plans in place to deliver extra spaces. It has to be done rapidly. I am doing it as fast as I can, but I understand the capacity issues.

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