Prison overcrowding - Jail should be seen as a last resort

Justice Minister Alan Shatter yesterday published the annual report of the Irish Prison Service for last year.

The biggest challenges facing the system continue to be the increasing number of people being sent to prison, even though the prisons are overcrowded. As a result, the number of prisoners on temporary release has increased because there is simply not enough room to hold them in prison.

The number of people committed to prison last year rose by almost 11% compared to 2009. Prisoners serving 10 years or more were down by a little more than 37%, while the number serving sentences from three to five years was down by a little more than 10%. But those numbers are proportionately down, because of the relative explosion in shorter-term sentences.