Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I wish to raise the issue of prison spaces. One of the commitments in the programme for Government in the area of justice was to increase the number of spaces for prisoners. I am highlighting this because I am concerned by recent commentary by members of the Prison Officers Association, who said that because of the shortage of prison spaces, many of the recreation halls and other usable spaces in our prisons are currently being used to house prisoners. Their concerns have now reached a point where the justice system might find it difficult to allocate sentences for prisoners to be kept in prison because of the shortage of spaces. Many in this Chamber and the wider community share these concerns. I would like to get an update on the record as to where we stand on the issue of prison spaces, and what are the plans to ensure that no judge feels they cannot sentence people to prison because there are no spaces to house them.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy O'Callaghan, who is in the Dáil Chamber today.

The Minister is acutely aware of capacity restraints in our prisons and the resulting challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons. Work to increase capacity has begun. Since 2022, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by 380 new spaces, with 126 delivered in 2024 and 43 delivered to date in 2025, with plans to deliver a further 138 by the end of 2026.

Action is being taken by the Irish Prison Service on a daily basis to manage overcrowding through 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.Following the review of the national development plan, a record capital investment of €495 million is being provided to the Irish Prison Service for a capital building programme over the next five years to deliver on the Government's commitments to expand capacity in our prisons, which will enable the largest ever prison building programme in the State. This funding will allow the delivery of 1,595 spaces between now and 2031. This includes a new prison on the site of the old Cork Prison, a new block in Wheatfield, an additional block extension at Midlands Prison, and additional spaces at Castlerea, Mountjoy and the Dóchas Centre.

Additionally, the Minister sought and secured an exemption for six projects to move straight to approval gate 2 - pre-tender approval of the infrastructure guidelines - and this measure is expected to speed up the delivery of 960 of these spaces by 12 to 18 months. That is a really important point.

Budget 2025 increased overall funding for the Irish Prison Service by €79 million, or 18%, 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. Supported by the increased budget, 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 programme for Government also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of prisoner. Work is under way to operationalise electronic monitoring in line with existing legislative provisions. It is intended to go to tender for an electronic monitoring provider this year.

Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and the Department for the response. I very much look forward to seeing the increase in prison places that has been outlined. I will come back to this issue again because it is one of the utmost importance. The public must feel confident that those convicted of serious crimes who are sent to prison have a space available to them and that prisons are adequately staffed by prison officers. I again thank the Minister of State for her response.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Byrne for bringing up such an important issue. On behalf of the Minister, I want to underline the importance of the commitment 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. That is something we are working on.

On 6 May 2025, the Minister published the general scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, which proposes 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 for sentences of up to two years rather than the current one-year requirement. That is also being looked at. I am sure Senator Byrne is aware of that.

The Bill further includes a range of measures that will bring welcome changes across a range of areas, including bolstering censoring options to reduce reliance on custodial sentences.

In budget 2025, the Probation Service received an additional €4 million, bringing its total budget to more than €60 million. This is all important. I thank Senator Byrne for highlighting the issue. I assure him that the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and his team are very much committed to delivering on these issues. They also see the urgent need to do that.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State and Senator Byrne.