Huge rise in number of sex offenders in prison

The Midlands Prison has 423 sex offenders, almost half of all those currently in custody.

The number of sex offenders currently in jail across the Irish prison system has increased by 45% over the past three years, to the current total of 865.

New figures provided by the minister for justice, home affairs, and migration, Jim O’Callaghan, show that the 865 sex offenders in custody compares to 598 in custody in November 2023 — a rise of 267.

In a written Dáil reply to Aidan Farrelly TD, Mr O’Callaghan has confirmed that the greatest number of sex offenders are jailed at the Midlands Prison, at 423 — representing almost half of all of those currently in custody.

He also revealed that there are currently 177 sex offenders in custody at Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison, with another 116 in custody at Arbour Hill Prison.

In addition, there are 89 sex offenders in custody at the semi-open low security prison the Mountjoy Training Unit in Dublin, and another 53 are in custody at Castlerea prison.

Prior to March 2024, sex offenders, both sentenced and remand, were mainly accommodated at four locations — the Midlands Prison, Arbour Hill Prison, Castlerea Prison, and Mountjoy Training Unit.

However, due to limitations at those locations and rising sex offender committals to prison, during March 2024, the Irish Prison Service commenced accommodating sex offenders in the part of Mountjoy Prison which was previously known as the Progression Unit.

The Progression Unit is located on the west side of the prison and is self-sufficient in relation to recreation, education, work, and training.

In addition, there is no requirement for prisoners living there to interact or traverse to the main prison and, for this reason, the Irish Prison Service decided that this was a suitable location to accommodate sex offenders.

In his reply to Mr Farrelly, Mr O’Callaghan said there are five sex offenders at the female prison at Mountjoy, the Dóchas Centre, one at Limerick Prison, and one at Cork Prison.

Rehabilitation

On efforts by the Irish Prison Service to rehabilitate sex offenders while serving sentences, Mr O’Callaghan stated that the Irish Prison Service has developed and implemented a new model of intervention for people who are convicted of a sexual offence, called ‘New Chapters’, which was launched in November 2024.

He said that anyone convicted of a sexual offence and committed to custody from November 1, 2024, has been managed under this new model.

He said that New Chapters “offers a broad range of programmes targeting people’s criminogenic needs and risks as well as their strengths”.

Mr O’Callaghan said this new model reflects a move away from the concept of a one-size-fits-all model of treatment for people convicted of a sexual offence.

He added: “The introduction of New Chapters provides for a broader, more responsive range of options for treatment, including for those who deny their offending.” 

Mr O’Callaghan pointed out that each programme in the New Chapters model “has been designed to help people to make positive changes in their lives, to address the known risk factors relevant to sexual offending, to prevent re-offending and/or to prepare people for release, and to make our communities safer”.