Prison overcrowding: IPS says capacity 'absolutely exhausted' with inmates near 6,000

On March 28, there were 5,826 prisoners in the system — an increase of 1,270 prisoners since the same date in 2023. 

Irish Prison Service (IPS) boss Caron McCaffrey has said the organisation has “absolutely exhausted” its ability to stretch spaces in jails to house inmates.

Prisoner numbers have hovered between 5,800 and 5,900 this year, where the maximum possible capacity is 4,740 — meaning that around 1,100 people are being put either into bunk beds or forced to sleep on mattress on cell floors.