Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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407. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of prisoners currently in the State. [45377/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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408. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current prison bed capacity in the State. [45378/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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409. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of prisoners currently in the State who have previously served time in prison for a previous offence. [45379/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 407 to 409, inclusive, together.

I am advised by officials in the Irish Prison Service that on 30 September 2023 there were 4,581 people in prison and the bed capacity was 4,515. Of the 4,581 people in prison, 3,197 had previously been committed into custody.

The Deputy will wish to be aware that the officials in the Irish Prison Service and in my Department are continuously working to identify short, medium and longer term proposals to help manage the current capacity issues in our prisons and are committed to providing safe and secure custody for all people committed to prison while ensuring a safe working environment for staff.

The Irish Prison Service does not have the option of refusing committals and must accept all people committed by the Courts Service. The prison system is under increasing pressure with factors such as ongoing population growth, increasing Garda and Judicial resources, and more frequent Court sittings, all contributing to a rising prison population.

Where the number of prisoners exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, my officials make every effort to address the issue through a combination of inter-prison transfers and carefully selecting candidates for Temporary Release.

The Government has provided significant capital funding to the Irish Prison Service to enhance the existing prison infrastructure. These projects have included, adding capacity to the Training Unit in Mountjoy Prison, along with the new male and female prison accommodation in Limerick Prison.

In addition, there are plans for 4 short to medium term capital projects at Castlerea Prison, Cloverhill Prison, the Midlands Prison and Mountjoy Prison. These will deliver a minimum of 620 additional spaces.

While I continue to engage with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform to progress an agreed schedule of capital builds, including the delivery of additional prison spaces, Budget 2024 provided an extra €12.6 million in the Irish Prisons Service budget for pay.

This money will be used to fund public sector pay increases and additional staff to cope with increasing prisoner numbers and services to prisoners. The new staff provided for in this increased allocation will include extra staff to assist with a Rapid Prison Building Unit to drive the Government’s intention to provide of over 620 new prisoner spaces over the next 5 years.

Alongside efforts to increase prison capacity, my Department is progressing a range of policy options to ensure that the courts have a suitably wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences.

The Programme for Government contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. In respect of delivering on this commitment, the Government approved the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024 in August 2022.

This review seeks to find the balance between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community-based sanctions are more appropriate in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity and that they have a role to play in addressing criminality, reducing reoffending and providing protection to the public, while holding the individual accountable.

The Deputy will also wish to be aware that the Irish Prison Service publishes figures in relation to prisoner population on their website, www.irishprisons.ie.