Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the overcrowding at Cork Prison; the steps being taken to address the capacity issues on site at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24538/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is acutely aware of capacity constraints across the prison estate and has committed, in the Programme for Government, to increasing capacity by 1,500.

The average daily prison population and official bed capacity of each custodial institution are published on a daily basis and are available on the Irish Prison Service website (www.irishprisons.ie). This information can be found in the Information Centre, under Statistics & Information – Daily Prisoner Population.

Since 2022, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by more than 300 new spaces, with over 134 delivered in the last 12 months, and over 100 additional spaces to be added this year. These spaces were added through the reopening of the Training Unit in Mountjoy as well as the opening of new male accommodation in Limerick Prison, the new standalone female prison in Limerick, and a range of other projects across the prison estate. I am advised by the Irish Prison Service as part of its short term cell accommodation plan for this year, work will commence shortly in Cork Prison which will see up to 10 additional prison spaces available by the end of the year.

Given the current trend in prisoner numbers and the pressure on prison capacity across the estate, the site of the former Cork prison remains of significant strategic interest to the Irish Prison Service. In late 2023, Engineering Consultants were engaged by the Estates Directorate to carry out a detailed assessment of the old Cork Prison facility and to provide a feasibility report on the site with various options for its use. The draft report has been received by the Irish Prison Service and it is currently being considered by them.

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 must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the Courts. As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.

Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, officials in the Irish Prison Service make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured Temporary Release. The legislative basis for temporary release is set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003. Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made. As of today 12th May 2025 there was 68 prisoners on temporary release from Cork Prison.

A project is also underway to introduce electronic tagging. There are a number of scenarios which are covered by legislation currently which allow for electronic tagging. In particular, provisions which allow for tagging of people on Temporary Release and in some circumstance, people on Bail, have potential as another avenue to tackle overcrowding. An initial rollout of electronic tagging is expected towards the end of the year following a procurement exercise for an electronic monitoring service provider.

While focused on rehabilitation and reducing offending, I am committed to continued investment in our prison estate, to ensure that it is modern and fit for purpose and that it has the capacity to accommodate those committed to prison by the courts.