40% drop in people being sent to prison

The number of people being sent to prison plummeted by almost 40% in 2017 — attributed to a massive drop in fine defaulters being jailed.

Prison bosses say this is a direct consequence of changes in the law creating a series of non-custodial sanctions for people who do not pay court-ordered fines.

Provisional figures from the Irish Prison Service (IPS) show there were 9,332 committals in 2017, compared to 15,099 in 2016 — a fall of 38%.