Imprisonment rates among top in EU

IRELAND has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in Europe, according to a new report.

“The cost of imprisonment in Ireland is a massive drain on public resources given that the average cost of keeping an offender in prison is €87,950 per annum,” said report author Mairéad Seymour.

She said while the number of people in Irish prisons on any given day is at the middle of the European table, the rate at which people are sent to prison (the “flow” of prisoners) is one of the highest in Europe.

She said this disparity is caused by Ireland’s “excessive reliance” on short terms of imprisonment.

Her report, Alternatives to Custody, estimates three-fifths of all those sentenced to imprisonment were jailed for less than six months.

She said the vast majority were committed to prison for non-violent offences against property or road traffic offences. A further 25% for failure to pay a fine.

Ms Seymour said despite the cost of prison, alternatives to custody were not being sufficiently resourced.

“It appears that the current level of resources provided to the Probation and Welfare Service is not sufficient to deliver and develop an effective system of alternatives to custody.”

Her research, commissioned by Business in the Community, examined the success of custody alternatives in Finland, Canada and Germany “It would appear that there is wide scope for reducing expenditure on prisons,” the report said.

It said that if offenders who were sentenced to a year imprisonment or less were considered for a community sanction there would be a very significant impact on committals to prison.

The report recommends against going down the road of electronic tagging of offenders or the introduction of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs).