Facts:

• 27. There are 49 children imprisoned in St Patrick's Institution, which is in breach of human rights law. (7th Dec 2009.)
• 1. The current prison population is 4,132 (1st Feb 2010)
• 26. 3,366 people were jailed for non-payment of fines in the first 10 months of 2009.
• 16. Dóchas women’s prison is operating at 48% over capacity, with 120 women; it is designed for 81 inmates. (Feb 2010)
• 2. The rate of imprisonment in Ireland is 85 per 100,000 of population (June 2009)
• 3. The prison population has increased by 400% since 1970.
• 4. The average cost of imprisonment was €92,717 per prisoner in 2008 - a rise of 8.6% on 2007.
• 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 12 years, the numbers in custody have increased by 65%.
• 9. Mountjoy Prison (male) has an occupancy rate of 124%, with 678 prisoners in a bed capacity of 540. (May 2009)
• 10. In 2008, 276 people were imprisoned in relation to the non-payment of a civil debt.
• 11. There were 1,034 committals under immigration law in 2008.
• 12. 241 young people aged under 18 were committed to prison in 2008.
• 13. There were 2,254 sentenced committals for road traffic offences in 2008, representing 28% of the total.
• 14. 25.2% of sentenced committals in 2008 were for offences against property without violence.
• 15. In 2006, the average cost per child in child detention schools was €330,263.
• 17. Prisoners in Ireland are 25 times more likely to come from (and return to) a seriously deprived area.
• 18. Just under 30% of prisoners in Ireland are still "slopping out", with no access to in-cell sanitation.
• 19. The total number in prison has increased by 309 over the past 12 months; this represents an 8.6% rise in the number in custody. (July 2009)
• 20. 85% of fine defaulters are back in custody within four years.
• 21. 87.5% of sentenced committals in 2008 were for non-violent offences.
• 22. There was an increase of 88.7% in committals for non-payment of court ordered fines in 2008.
• 23. 93% of women committed under sentence to prison in 2008 were for non-violent offences.
• 24. 62% of sentenced committals in 2008 were for 6 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.