Record prison overcrowding 'set to worsen' 

A total of 4,748 people were in custody on Tuesday, just one off the record which was set last July.

The prison system is battling a worsening overcrowding problem, with the number of people in the country’s jails at its highest-ever level.

There were 4,748 people in custody on Tuesday, just one off the record which was set last July — and experts fear the number could hit 5,000 by the middle of the year.

This upsurge in numbers is despite the opening last October of two new accommodation blocks in Limerick Prison, with the male and female prisons there now both overflowing with inmates.

Over 4,700 prisoners have been in custody consistently since November, 200 more than the prisons can hold.

It compares to an average daily population of around 4,300 in 2022 and 3,700 in 2017. The previous peak was in 2011 (4,400).

The Irish Penal Reform Trust said the “over-reliance” on imprisonment in the courts means the increase in prisoner population was predictable and warned “it will continue to get worse”.

Increased court activity, longer prison sentences, new offences, greater numbers of people held on remand, more people with severe mental illnesses being jailed, and increases in female committals have all been identified as contributory factors.

Prison bosses also say more sex offenders are being jailed and that this trend is expected to increase.

An analysis by the Irish Examiner, based on data from December 15 for each year, shows the mounting pressures on the system:

• The number of people in prison custody increased by 9% between 2022 and 2023 and by 28% since 2017;
• The number of prisoners given temporary release rose by 54% last year and by 144% since 2017;
• The number of people held on remand awaiting trial increased by 12% last year and 49% since 2017;
• The total number of prisoners in the system, including those in custody and on temporary release, rose by 12% last year and 34% since 2017;
• Bed capacity increased by 2% last year (4,411 to 4,514) and by 6% since 2017 (4,273); 
• Number of people in custody as a percentage of bed capacity has gone from 87% in 2017 to 93% in 2019 and 99% in 2022 to 105% in 2023.

Nine of the 12 closed prisons are over capacity.

Limerick female prison is 116% overcapacity, despite its bed capacity doubling in the last year, from 28 to 56. As of December 15, it had 65 women in custody.

Limerick male prison is the second most overcrowded, at 113%. Although its bed number rose from 210 to 286, it had 324 people in custody last December.

Cork Prison is the third most overcrowded, at 111%.

A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said it must accept all committals from the courts and is taking short- and medium-term steps to address "increasing prison numbers".

He said there are plans for capital projects in four prisons to deliver a maximum of 620 additional spaces and that Justice Minister Helen McEntee is "continuing to engage" with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe to agree a build schedule.