Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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687. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the work his Department is undertaking to reduce overcrowding in prisons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54796/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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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.

I am acutely aware of capacity restraints in our prisons and the challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons as a result. Since 2022 capacity across the prison estate has been increased by 380 new spaces.

A record capital investment of €527 million is being provided to IPS over the next 5 years, of which €495 million will be invested in building projects to further increase capacity. This will provide for the largest investment in the prison estate in the history of the State.

The target is to deliver 1595 prison spaces between now and 2031. This includes a new prison on the site of the old Cork prison, a new block in Wheatfield, an additional block extension at Midlands prison, and additional spaces at Castlerea, Mountjoy and Dóchas. A new mental health therapeutic centre is also planned for Mountjoy.

The delivery of these 960 spaces will be accelerated by moving straight to the second approval gate of the Infrastructure Guidelines. This measure will speed up delivery timelines by 12 to 18 months.

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. I was pleased to secure additional funding for the service of €39 million (8.3%) in Tuesday’s budget. This will facilitate ongoing recruitment and additional hours into 2026.

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

In April 2025, I launched 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 so as to provide a meaningful alternative to custodial sentences where appropriate and support desistance from offending behaviour.

In Budget 2026 I have provided the Probation Service with very significant additional resources amounting to €6.7 million, an increase of 11%.

Work is also underway to operationalise electronic monitoring in line with existing legislative provisions for certain categories of offenders. It is intended to go to tender for an electronic monitoring provider this year. In 2026, funding of €2.1m has been allocated for the project to allow for staffing, procurement, and other set up costs.