John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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653. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average cost to keep a prisoner in custody; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25225/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that the average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space during the calendar year 2024 was €99,072. This includes net expenditure incurred within the year (such as salaries, utilities/ maintenance, ICT, prison services, etc.) excluding capital expenditure on buildings, ICT and vehicle purchases.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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654. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to outline any plans he has in relation to attempting to reduce the prison population size; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25226/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware of capacity restraints in our prisons, and the challenges faced by those who work in or are detained in our prisons. The current Programme for Government commits to increasing the capacity of our prisons by 1,500, and the Irish Prison Service have already begun work to achieve this.

I am also committed to progressing commitments in the Programme for Government related to the expanded use of community sanctions, which will contribute to reducing prison overcrowding and improving efforts to rehabilitate offenders.

On 6 May last, I secured Government approval for the drafting of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 which includes a range of measures to improve operational capacity in our prisons and increase sentencing options to reduce reliance on custodial sentences. It includes amendments to the Community Service Act 1983 to encourage greater use of community service orders.

I am committed to implementing policies aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions, reducing offending, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and providing more effective rehabilitation. These policies aim to contribute to the effective management of prison numbers and increasing the availability of cost-effective criminal justice responses for minor offences.

At present, a judge is obliged to consider imposing a community service order in lieu of custodial sentences of 12 months or less. I am proposing that the obligation to consider community service be applied to sentences up to 24 months. I am also proposing to double from 240 to 480 the maximum community service hours that a court may impose.

In Budget 2025, the Probation Service received an additional €4 million, bringing the total budget to over €60 million to expand crime-diversion programmes, support step-down facilities, restorative justice, and community-based alternatives to imprisonment.

Last month, I was pleased to publish the Probation Service Community Service Implementation Plan, “New Directions 2025-2027” which sets out a range of actions and targets to increase the uptake, consistency and availability of Community Service Orders throughout the country.

The Programme for Government also commits to implement electronic monitoring for appropriate categories of offender. I would like to assure the Deputy that work is underway to operationalise electronic monitoring in line with existing legislative provisions.