Demand to cut prison numbers by a third

Cross-party proposals to cut prison numbers by a third over 10 years could save the country millions in the long term.

The Oireachtas justice committee is calling for around 1,400 inmates to be taken out of the prison system and given community sanctions or placed on early release schemes.

Launching the report of its sub-committee on penal reform, rapporteur Ivana Bacik said a “critical question” was whether their study would “gather dust” in the Department of Justice — the fate of many reports over the decades.