Written answers

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Department of Justice and Equality

Prisoner Data

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the total prison population; if she will provide in tabular form the number of prisoners, broken down by prison; the capacity of each prison; the percentage occupation of each prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13384/15]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware the Irish Prison Service collates and publishes the prisoner population breakdown on a daily basis and this information is available on the Irish Prison Service website .

I can inform the Deputy that on 30th March, 2015, there were 3,748 prisoners in custody as compared to a bed capacity of 4,126. This represents an occupancy level of 91%. A full breakdown to include, capacity, number in custody and percentage of bed capacity is set out in a table.

InstitutionBed CapacityNumber in Custody% of Bed Capacity
Mountjoy Campus
Mountjoy (Male)554557101%
Mountjoy (Female)105106101%
Training Unit969397%
St Patrick’s 34926%
West Dublin Campus
Cloverhill43131974%
Wheatfield55049590%
Portlaoise Campus
Midlands87081393%
Portlaoise29122577%
Cork21020799%
Limerick (Male)22021899%
Limerick (Female)281864%
Castlerea34032596%
Arbour Hill14213998%
Loughan House14011985%
Shelton Abbey11510591%
Totals4,1263,74891%

As outlined in the Irish Prison Service Three Year Strategic Plan 2012 - 2015, it is intended to align the bed capacity of our prisons with the guidelines laid down by the Inspector of Prisons, in so far as this is compatible with public safety and the integrity of the criminal justice system. This has been completed for 9 out of the 14 prisons in the State. The number in custody on 30th March (3,748) represented 91% of the Inspector of Prisons recommended total of 3,982.

The Deputy will be aware that the average number of prisoners in custody in Ireland rose from 3,321 during 2007 to 4,318 during 2012, an increase of over 30%. Likewise the total number of committals to prison also rose sharply during the same period, from 11,934 in 2007 to 17,026 in 2012 – an increase of over 43%.

2013 saw the first significant decrease in prison numbers since 2007. There were 15,735 committals to prison in 2013 which was a decrease of 7.6% on the 2012 figure. The overall daily average number of prisoners in custody has also dropped in recent years. The average number in custody for 2014 was 3,916 a reduction of 10.8% on the 2011 average of 4,390.

The Deputy may wish to note that the number in custody reached a peak of 4,621 on 23rd February 2011. Today there are 873 less prisoners in custody which represents a decrease of 19%.

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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419. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide in tabular form the number of prisoners currently on temporary release, by prison; the type of offence the prisoner was convicted of; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13385/15]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware the Irish Prison Service collates and publishes the prisoner population breakdown on a daily basis and this information is available on the Irish Prison Service website www.irishprisons.ie.

A breakdown by prison establishment of those on temporary release is set out in a table. I will write further to the Deputy in relation to statistics on the other matter raised by him.

On 30th March 2015 there were 504 prisoners (11.4%) on temporary release across the prison system. This included 133 prisoners who were serving less than 3 months solely for the non-payment of a Court ordered fine and 178 prisoners who were on structured temporary release programmes such as the Community Return Programme or Community Support Scheme.

The legislative basis for making decisions on temporary release are fully set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003.

A prisoner may apply through the prison Governor for consideration for temporary release. Their family or their legal representative can also apply for consideration of such a concession. It is very important to note that it does not necessarily follow that a prisoner will receive temporary release even if the recommendation made by the prison authorities and/or therapeutic services is to that effect. Each application is considered on its individual merits and a number of factors are taken into account when making a decision on whether to grant temporary release.

The Deputy will be aware that the Irish Prison Service Three Year Strategic Plan 2012-2015 and the Joint Prison Service/Probation Service Strategic Plan 2013-2015 includes working towards the objective of ensuring that all prisoners released early from custody are placed on appropriate structured programme of temporary release.

The Community Return Scheme is an initiative whereby carefully selected prisoners, serving sentences between 1 year and 8 years, can be granted reviewable temporary release coupled with a requirement to do community service work such as painting, gardening or graffiti removal in a supervised group setting. The type of work involved is intended to assist the community and the scheme is involved with a large number of charitable organisations and local community groups.

In addition to Community Return, a Community Support Scheme has also been introduced to reduce recidivism rates of short term prisoners by arranging for additional support structures post release and by providing for a more structured form of temporary release.

Table - Breakdown by Establishment

EstablishmentTotal
Castlerea Prison28
Cloverhill Remand Prison16
Cork Prison117
Limerick Prison59
Loughan House12
Midlands Prison48
Mountjoy Prison (Female)31
Mountjoy Prison (Male) 100
Portlaoise Prison4
Shelton Abbey8
The Training Unit25
Wheatfield Place of Detention56
Total504

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