Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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1487.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide a breakdown of the Irish Prison Service funding for 2023. [31485/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Irish Prison Service is a non-statutory executive agency of the Department of Justice responsible for the secure custody, care and rehabilitation of people serving a sentence in each of Ireland’s 12 prisons.

The Irish Prison Service is the second largest agency in the criminal justice system and in 2023 had a budget of €422m. Overall, the 2023 IPS allocation is broken down as follows: Pay (€299m), Non-Pay (€93m) and Capital (€29.5m).

The Programme for Government commits to a range of penal reform measures that require substantial and ongoing modernisation of prison services and practices. This includes an enhanced focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism, assisting those in custody with mental health, addiction and other personal difficulties, and upgrading the prison estate.