Number of sex offenders in Irish jails up 16% amid ‘epidemic of violence against women’

The figures released by the Irish Prison Service to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú gave the sex offender numbers in prison as of May 31 this year as 800. Stock picture

Sex offender numbers in Irish prisons have jumped by almost 16% in a year with those 800 prisoners costing taxpayers €80m annually.

The figures, released by the Irish Prison Service to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú under Freedom of Information gave the sex offender numbers in prison as of May 31 this year as 800.