Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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215. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the timeline for opening a new prison in Thornton Hall; and its future capacity. [5136/25]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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222. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality how he is going to ensure 1,500 new prison places are out in place; and his timeline for delivering this. [5145/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 215 and 222 together.

As the Deputy may 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, including the construction of a prison at Thornton Hall.

This 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. The IPS has a total budget of €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.

As the Deputy will also be aware, all new capital building projects must be done in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines, which outline the steps that must be taken to plan and deliver large projects to ensure value for money.

A Prison Overcrowding Response Group was established in July 2023, composed of officials from my Department 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 approved and work to implement these is ongoing.

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, including at Thornton Hall.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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216. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he plans to reform bail laws. [5137/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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While our bail laws provide for the refusal of bail in particular circumstances, the presiding judge is entirely independent in the exercise of their judicial functions, and the decision to grant bail in a particular case is solely a matter for the judge.

However, in considering a bail application in accordance with the Bail Act 1997, as amended, the Court is required to have regard to any persistent serious offending by an applicant and, in specific circumstances, the nature and likelihood of any danger to a person, or to the community, arising from the granting of bail. The Court is also required to give reasons for its decision to grant or refuse the application.

The Bail Act now provides for stricter bail terms - including the use of curfews - for repeat serious offenders, and strengthens garda powers to deal with breaches of bail. Where an individual fails to comply with any bail conditions, the judge may issue a bench warrant, giving An Garda Síochána the power to arrest and bring the person before the court to answer all charges relating to the bail.

Furthermore, a member of An Garda Síochána may arrest a person immediately without a warrant where they have reasonable cause to suspect that that person has breached, or is about to breach, a bail condition. They may also arrest a person if they consider it necessary in order to prevent harm to, interference with, or intimidation of a victim or witness.

A breach of bail may result in an additional charge and an order and/or surety for ‘forfeiture and estreatment’ of the bail money.

I also wish to bring forward electronic monitoring as a mean of supervising those who have been granted bail. I will keep our bail laws under review and will introduce further amendments if necessary.