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Longer sentences a factor in prisoner rise

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) annual report shows that the average daily number of prisoners in custody last year was 4,582 – an 11% increase compared with 2022. 

The 7,938 people sent to prison last year represented an increase of 12.7% compared with 2022. 

While the number of committals last year was more than 11% lower than the pre-COVID 2019 figure, the daily average was up by more than 15% compared with 2019.

Daily average rises 

Writing in the report, IPS director general Caron McCaffrey said that longer sentences were one contributory factor to the daily average increase. 

The number of people sent to prison for more than one year increased by more than 35% between 2019 and 2023.  

While three-quarters of all committals in 2019 were for sentences of less than 12 months, the figure for 2023 dropped to just over two-thirds. 

By category, the largest number (1,030) sentenced was for theft and related offences, accounting for 18.4% of the total. 

Remand 

At the end of 2023 the proportion of remand trial prisoners in custody for one year or more was 9%, compared with 6% at the start of 2020. 

“This indicates a large number of cases that have to come before the courts,” McCaffrey stated. 

She added that the IPS was continuing to “navigate the challenges presented by an increased prison population and the significant impacts of overcrowding in our prison system”. 

The report shows that the average cost of a prison space in 2023 was €88,523 – an increase of more than 5% from €84,067 the previous year.