Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

789. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the measures he will take to expand prison capacity such as alternatives to prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2285/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware there has been much work done to date to enhance the prison infrastructure, provide additional capacity, and explore alternatives to prison. The Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future – commits to continued action in this area.

The Government will continue to invest in the prison estate, to ensure that it is modern, fit-for-purpose and has the capacity to accommodate those committed to prison. In recent years, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by more than 200 spaces through the reopening of the Training Unit in Mountjoy, the opening of new male accommodation in Limerick and the new standalone female prison in Limerick.

The IPS had a number of capital projects underway in 2024 to deliver over 150 new spaces. By end-2024, the majority of these had finished construction and are starting to come into full operational use. Further spaces will be delivered in 2025 as part of an overall plan out to 2030 to deliver over 1,100 spaces.

The IPS has been allocated €525m for 2025, an increase in funding of €79m (18%) compared to 2024. The Irish Prison Service capital budget stands at €53m in 2025, which is an increase of €22.5m on the original allocation for 2024.

The Irish Prison Service aims to recruit 300 recruit prison officers in 2025, in addition to the 271 Prison Officers recruited in 2024, while an additional €6.2 million has been provided to fund 130,000 additional staff hours in our prisons.

The Irish Prison Service must accommodate everyone committed to prison by the Courts and has no control over numbers committed. Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, the Irish Prison Service make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and appropriate use of structured temporary release. Short-term measures like inter-prison transfers and temporary release are used in prison systems across the world to manage prison populations and have long been a feature of the Irish Prison Service activities. Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case-by-case basis and the safety of the public is paramount in those decisions.

A Prison Overcrowding Response Group was established in July 2023, composed of officials from the Department of Justice and representatives from relevant agencies, to consider measures to address capacity issues in the prison estate. In June 2024, on foot of a report from this Group a range of actions were agreed and work to implement these is ongoing.

These actions include developing new, innovative responses to deliver structured temporary release for suitable prisoners, progressing actions to increase the use of community service as a priority, and advancing legislative changes to support the delivery of community-based sanctions more generally.

A Working Group was established in the second half of 2024 to further consider future prison capacity needs and to make recommendations on the numbers and types of prison capacity needed out to 2035. The work of this Group will support and inform future developments regarding prison capacity.