IPRT - Irish Penal Reform Trust

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Facts:
  • 1. The current prison population is 4,233 (6th June 2013)
  • 2. The rate of imprisonment in Ireland is 95 per 100,000 of population (Oct 2011)
  • 3. The prison population has increased by 400% since 1970.
  • 4. The average cost of imprisonment per prisoner was €65,404 in 2012.
  • 5. 60% of people serving sentences for 6 months or less are poor, and are often homeless people.
  • 6. The majority of Irish prisoners have never sat a State exam and over half left school before the age of 15.
  • 7. Four in ten children (under 16 years) on custodial remand have a learning disability.
  • 8. Over the past 14 years, the numbers in custody have increased by almost 100%.
  • 9. Mountjoy Prison (male) is holding 710 prisoners in a prison that should hold no more than 517* (8th March 2011)
  • 10. In 2012, 22 people were imprisoned in relation to the non-payment of a civil debt.
  • 11. There were 400 committals under immigration law in 2012.
  • 12. 143 young people aged under 18 were committed to prison in 2012.
  • 13. There were 3,495 sentenced committals for road traffic offences in 2011, representing 20% of the total.
  • 14. 20.8% of sentenced committals in 2009 were for offences against property without violence.
  • 15. In 2006, the average cost per child in child detention schools was €330,263.
  • 16. Dóchas Centre is operating at 22% above design capacity with 128 women in space designed for 105. (7 March 2013)
  • 17. Prisoners in Ireland are 25 times more likely to come from (and return to) a seriously deprived area.
  • 18. Of 193 prisoners held on 23-hour lock up, 44 are aged under 21. (19th March 2013)
  • 19. The total number in prison has increased by 419 over the past 12 months; this represents a rise of 10%. (Jan 2011)
  • 20. 85% of fine defaulters are back in custody within four years.
  • 21. 90.3% of sentenced committals in 2009 were for non-violent offences.
  • 22. There was an increase of 90.7% in committals for non-payment of court ordered fines in 2009.
  • 23. 82.4% of women committed under sentence to prison in 2009 were for non-violent offences.
  • 24. 88% of sentenced committals in 2012 were for 12 months or less.
  • 25. In 2008, of 520 prisoners who enrolled in school at Mountjoy Prison, 20% could not read or write and 30% could only sign their names.
  • 26. 8,304 committals for non-payment of court-ordered fines in 2012.
  • 27. There are 26 children imprisoned in St Patrick's Institution, which is in breach of human rights law. (28th Feb 2013)
  • 28. There are 196 children and young people in custody in St. Patrick’s Institution. (7th March 2013.)
  • 30. Since 1997 more than 1,930 new prison spaces have been added to the prison system.
  • 31. There are 193 'protection' prisoners on 23-hr lock-up (17 March 2013); 87 of these are in Wheatfield Prison.
  • 32. Over 70% of prisoners are unemployed on committal.
  • 33. There are 1,003 prisoners 'slopping out' in Irish prisons. (17th Dec 2010.)

Welcome to the Irish Penal Reform Trust

The Irish Penal Reform Trust is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of people in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy.

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