Prison Overcrowding in Ireland

Ireland has been attempting to respond effectively to issues related to prison overcrowding for the better part of the last 25 years. The urgent and accelerating need to do so can be seen in the dramatic increases in incarceration rates observable during each decade from the 1970’s on.

In 1970 the estimated number of prisoners in Ireland was 750. By 1980 the number had risen to 1,200. This number would increase to 2,100 in 1990, only to eventually hit 2,948 by the year 2000. The

This upward trajectory has shown little sign of reversal from 2000 to 2025. From 2022 onward in particular the Irish prison population surged past previous records.

By 2023, it hit 4,748, nearing 5,000 by mid-2024.

These issues have once again made front page news in Irelands media with the Irish Independent reporting that as February 2025 the official number of prisoner numbers have reached an all-time high 5,181, with 346 inmates forced to sleep on mattresses on cell floors. This represents a prison estate operating at 112% capacity.

As reported by the Independent the figures have been branded ­“truly shocking” by the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) who said the Prison Service has been failed by the Department of Justice and that the situation inside prison walls is “dangerous”. The POA are also reported to have stated that there was effectively a “revolving-door” policy in Ireland’s jails.

It is also worth noting that a sizeable percentage of the increase in Irish prisons for the period 2005-2015 comprised foreign born inmates.

According to the most recently available data from Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics, better known as SPACE (Statistiques Pénales Annuelles du Conseil de l’Europe) foreign inmates made up 12.4% of the total Irish prison population in 2015 compared to 12.5% in 2005.

Space also observes that at the same time the absolute number of foreign inmates rose from 395 in 2005 to 463 in 2015 which represents an increase of 17%.

SPACE have accepted that this apparent contradiction between the change in the number of foreign inmates and their relative percentage in the total prison population can be resolved once we accept that that the number of foreign inmates increased almost at the same pace as the number of national inmates.

In comparative terms however, SPACE have indicated that during the period 2005-2015 Ireland had an average percentage of foreign inmates in its prison population.

It is disconcerting to note however that as 31 December 2015 SPACE could not access any data sources on the number of foreigners placed under the supervision of probation agencies in Ireland. In fact, in says Ireland was unable to provide such data for the whole

period under study.

While Ireland shares many of these challenges with other EU member states, it remains fair to say that the problems confronting the Irish prison estate are particularly acute and of long duration.

For example, data published by SPACE on June 6, 2024 revealed that France faces significant prison overcrowding.

SPACE reported that France had a prison density of 119 inmates per 100 places indicating severe overcrowding (19% above capacity).

This aligns with reports from French media platform France24, which noted a record high of 73,080 inmates against a capacity of 60,899 (120% capacity) on April 1, 2023.

By early 2024 France’s overcrowding was at 123%, showing a worsening trend.

The situation in Germany however is more positive with SPACE reporting that the state does not currently experience widespread prison overcrowding at the national level given that it has been able to maintain a prison occupancy rate of below 100 per 100 inmates. For instance in 2022, Eurostat also reported Germany’s prisoner rate stood at 69 per 100,000 inhabitants. By January 31, 2023 however the density rate had risen to of approximately 84 inmates per 100 places across its prison system.

As part of its determination to tackle the myriad issues that result from prison overcrowding the Irish Government allocated increased levels of capital funding to the Irish Prison Service to enhance infrastructure and increase capacity.

In Budget 2025, €525 million was allocated. This represented an 18% increase o previous spending. It was estimated that the 2025 capital budget of €53 million would fund over 150 spaces by the end of 2024, with plans to create addtional1,100 new spaces by 2030.

The Irish Prison Service responded to this increased allocation by acknowledging that these initiatives represented what it termed “critical steps towards meeting the challenges posed by overcrowding thereby ensuring a capacity to continue to offer rehabilitative services in an environment that is safe and conducive to positive outcomes for those in custody.”

The focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism rates has also been central to Irish Government attempts to ameliorate the phenomenon of overcrowding. The two issues are intimately linked with Government estimating that overcrowding has ensured limited access to rehabilitative services and thus high recidivism rates (e.g., 55.2% of prisoners released in 2014 reoffended within three years).

This focus has been particularly notable since 2023 when the number of committals to Irish prison increased by 12.7% (+895) compared to the previous year.

As the IPO has noted, this increase coupled with the increasing length of sentences, has had a considerable impact on prison capacity, highlighting the need for continued investment in infrastructure and resources to maintain safe and effective prison conditions.

The Government also established the Prison Overcrowding Response Group in 2023.

Commenting on the Group the then Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed that in 2024, the Group presented its report to her and that subsequently 12 actions were approved for implementation.

These included two actions related to a new structured temporary release for women and the establishment of a specialised Probation Service response aimed at women serving  sentences of less than 18 months in Limerick’s Women’s Prison.

These actions also included for the first time an agreement regarding delegated authority to grant temporary release, with an assessment to be commenced after six months of operation.

In one of numerous parliamentary replies on the issue, the minister also confirmed that the Irish Probation Service has been actively engaging with the Judiciary regarding a number of actions related to Community Service Orders (CSOs).

While work to amend legislation to increase the limit of CSO hours is currently being progressed there is no clear timeline for when such changes may be finalised. In the interim it is likely that incarceration rates will continue at the same high volume.

In terms of addressing and keeping a focus on future prison capacity needs, a new Working Group was established by the outgoing Irish administration called the Future Prison Capacity Working Group. This group has been examining the capacity requirements of the prison system out to 2035 and is expected to report in the near future.

Many of the issues surrounding prison overcrowding in Ireland and indeed across the EU revolve around striking the extraordinarily difficult balance between what has been termed a rights-based approach to prison reform that emphasises the rehabilitation of individuals in custody, in contrast to a more criminal justice-based approach that focuses on punishment, deterrence, and public safety, ensuring that penalties reflect the severity of offenses and provide justice for victims.

These conflicting perspectives were addressed in Ireland as part of the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024.

The Guiding Principles of this Review included adopting what it termed “a sparing approach to the use of imprisonment” while also acknowledging judicial discretion, and the need for imprisonment those who commit the most serious of offences, typically those which justify a sentence of 12 months or longer, or individuals who the Courts determine cannot be managed safely in the community.

It must be said however that there is a growing and palpable impatience within the Irish population around what it perceives as the observably gross imbalance between the rights based and criminal justice approaches touched on above.  This is particularly evident with respect to sexual offending.

It is also evident with respect to a recent high profile court cases in Ireland relating to the death of a young journalism student and which involved the application of concurrent sentencing for his death caused by dangerous driving.

It is clear that an increasing number of Irish people feel the balance has pivoted too far away from the victim and toward the perpetrator. This in turn has created enormous political pressure to ramp up the number of prison spaces available. As such the Government in Ireland has placed itself on a direct collision course with vocal and prominent NGO’s such as the Irish Prison Reform Trust who have consistently opposed any policy designed to increase the number of prison places available.