‘Staggering’ rise in prisoners on mattresses
The head of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) says that the impact of overcrowding on the system has become “increasingly evident”.
The service’s annual report for 2024 noted that, at present, the prison system was operating above its designed capacity.
, Caron McCaffrey said that the prison population at the end of the year was 5,001 – a 6% increase over the year.
She added that 213 prisoners were sleeping on mattresses in other people’s cells at the end of the year – a 156% increase that McCaffrey described as “staggering”.
‘Significant funding’ needed
The IPS chief said that the sharp rise in the prison population highlighted “the urgent need” for a comprehensive capital strategy, supported by “significant funding commitments”, to respond to future demand.
“Without long-term investment, the ability to plan for sustainable prison infrastructure remains limited,” she warned.
During the year, 7,193 people were committed to prison – an increase of 9.6% – and the number of individuals entering custody rose by 10.7% to 8,704.
Prison spaces
The annual cost per prison space rose by 11.9%.
McCaffrey said that the growing prison population and increased costs required “targeted interventions” to strengthen capacity and maintain service delivery.
During 2024, the IPS added 150 additional prison spaces, with 90 more set to be delivered this year.
The overall daily average number of prisoners in custody in 2024 was 4,941 – an increase of 7.8% compared with .
Educational programmes
Of those committed to prison, almost 88% were male, while 77% of all sentences were for 12 months or less.
The number of committals for the non-payment of court-ordered fines decreased in 2024 – from 552 to 507.
The report showed that an average of 58.5% of prisoners were participating in educational programmes by the end of 2024, while there were 1,486 work-training placements across the prison estate.
At the end of the year, the IPS had 3,740 full-time employees – including 271 newly recruited prison officers.
‘Decisive shift’ needed
Responding to the report, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) said that the statistics highlighted the persistent use of prison for short sentences, a sharp rise in prison overcrowding, and increasing costs to the taxpayer.
The trust said that the figures highlighted “the urgent need for a decisive shift away from prison towards effective community-based alternatives”, particularly for those on remand or for those serving sentences of less than 12 months.
“The fact that over three-quarters of sentences were for 12 months or less shows that prison is still being used inappropriately for minor offending,” said IPRT executive director Saoirse Brady.
The organisation has welcomed legislative proposals from the Minister for Justice to expand the use of community service orders, but Brady said that more legislation was needed to expand the range of non-custodial options available to the judiciary.
“This should be accompanied by a rebalancing of investment into alternatives like probation supervision and restorative justice,” she added.