John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2023. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the measures he will take to address overcrowding in prisons; if he intends to build Thornton Hall prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42204/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware of capacity restraints in our prisons, and challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons.

In recognition of the significant challenges being experienced by the IPS, Budget 2025 increased overall funding for the Irish Prison Service by €79m (18%) compared to 2024, bringing the total allocated to nearly €525m. This increase is to fund measures to address overcrowding, including a capital budget of €53m which is €22.5m more than the original 2024 allocation.

The Irish Prison Service also aims to recruit up to 300 prison officers in 2025, in addition to the 271 prison officers recruited in 2024.

Since January 2022, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by more than 370 new spaces, with 126 delivered in 2024, 40 delivered to date in 2025 with plans to deliver a further 101 additional spaces by the end of this year.

In line with Programme for Government commitments to deliver 1500 additional prison spaces, €495m is being allocated to the Irish Prison Service under the NDP for 2026-2030 with projects planned at Castlerea, Cloverhill, Mountjoy, Portlaoise, Wheatfield, Midlands, Dóchas and the old Cork Prison site. It will also support the construction of a prison at Thornton.

I am also committed to progressing and implementing policies aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions, reducing offending, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and providing effective rehabilitation.

On 6 May 2025, I secured Government approval for the drafting of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025.

This amends the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 and the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 to provide that the limit of community service hours be increased to 480 hours, and to oblige the judiciary to consider the imposition of a Community Service Order as an alternative where considering a custodial sentence of 2 years or less.

The Programme for Government also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of prisoner, and work is underway to achieve this with the commencement of a project to examine how electronic monitoring can be brought into use in line with existing legislative provisions.

An initial rollout of electronic monitoring is expected later this year following a procurement exercise to select a service provider. A Request for Information was published on eTenders on Thursday, 5 June. This is a key early step in engaging with the market and preparing for a future Request for Tender.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2024. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the number of people in all prisons in the country, in tabular form. [42205/25]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2025. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the capacity of all prisons in the country in tabular form. [42206/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2024 and 2025 together.

I wish to inform the Deputy the number of people in all prisons in the country and the details of the capacity of all prisons are published on a daily basis and are located under Statistics & Information – Daily Prisoner Population on the Irish Prison Service website - irishprisons.ie. Bed capacity as of 24 July 2025 stands at 4,672.

Since 2022, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by 377 new spaces, with 126 delivered in 2024, 40 delivered to date in 2025 with plans to deliver a further 101 additional spaces this year.

In line with Programme for Government commitments to deliver 1500 additional prison spaces, €495m is being allocated to the Irish Prison Service under the National Development Plan for 2026-2030 with projects planned at Castlerea, Cloverhill, Mountjoy, Portlaoise, Wheatfield, Midlands, Dóchas and the Old Cork prison site. The capital allocation will provide for work to commence on the development of a new prison at Thornton in North County Dublin.