Number of prison sentences outpacing community-based sanctions, report finds

The Probation report said the average cost of a Community Service Order is €1,450 a year, which compares to €103,000-a-year in the prison system

A cell in Mountjoy Prison. At the end of 2025, the prison system was 22% over its maximum capacity. File photo: Moya Nolan

The use of prisons is growing at more than twice the rate of community-based sanctions, new figures show. This is despite the chronic level of overcrowding in the country’s jails.

The Probation Service Annual Report 2025 shows that while there was a 6% increase in court-imposed supervision orders last year, Irish Prison Service figures show there was a 15% jump in prison numbers.

The Probation report highlights the wide variation across the country in the use of community sanctions by courts. Probation orders per 100,000 people are four-to-six times higher in Cork, Waterford and Carlow than they are in the bottom eight counties, with the lowest use in Kerry and Monaghan.

The report shows that 72 new entrants were taken into the Probation Service during 2025 but that, after retirements and departures, overall staffing levels rose by 23 people, or just 5%, to 522.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan announced a 13% increase in the funding for the Probation Service in Budget 2026 and that amendments to legislation will oblige the courts to consider a Community Service Order (CSOs) in lieu of a prison sentence up to 24 months (up from 12 months).

CSOs are a specific type of probation supervision, with 1,734 issued by the courts in 2025, marginally higher than the previous year (1,723).

Main figures from the report show:

• Total people referred to the Probation Service rose from 17,150 to 17,686 in 2025 (up 3%);
• New referrals from court increased from 9,720 in 2024 to 10,497 in 2025 (up 8%), with 6,363 of last year’s referrals for Probation Pre-Sanction — before sentencing — reports;
• Supervision referrals rose from 8,190 in 2024 to 8,680 in 2025 (up 6%) 

Irish Prison Service data shows that the total number in prison at the end of 2025 was 5,753, a 15% increase on 2024 (5,001). At the end of 2025, the prison system was 22% over its maximum capacity.

The Probation report said the average cost of a Probation Order is an estimated €7,000 a year and that the average cost of a CSO is €1,450 a year.

This compares to €103,000-a-year in the prison system, which includes other costs such as accommodation, utilities, food, staffing and services.

The Probation report said the 'Community Service: New Directions Implementation Plan 2025-2027' marked a “significant step in strengthening community service as an effective alternative to custody”.

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It said the plan included increasing the confidence of judges in community service and reducing short-term imprisonment.

The report said the Probation Service also said it had engaged with the Department of Justice on penal policy, particularly the promotion of community sanctions and rehabilitation. It said this was with a view towards “addressing prison overcrowding”.

This included the introduction of legislation obliging courts to consider community service instead of prison sentences of up to 24 months.

However, the report highlights how a scheme introduced to ease overcrowding by providing structured early release to prisoners under probation supervision has seen falling numbers. The number of people in the Community Return scheme dropped from 216 people in 2024 to 190 in 2025 (down 12%).

• Cormac O’Keeffe, security correspondent