Facts & Figures

1. The current prison population is 4,051. (7th December 2009)

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.

16.  Dóchas women’s prison is operating at almost 50% over capacity, with 120 women; it is designed for 81 inmates. (Feb 2010)

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 the 520 prisoners who enrolled in the school at Mountjoy Prison, 20% could not read or write and 30% could only sign their names.

26.  3,366 people were jailed for non-payment of fines in the first 10 months of 2009; at least 62 of those were thrown in prison for failing to pay court fines imposed for not having a television licence.

27.  There are 49 children imprisoned in St Patrick's Institution, which is in breach of human rights law. (7th Dec 2009.)

28.  There are 203 children and young people in custody in St. Patrick’s Institution. (7th Dec 2009.) 

29.  There were 7 suicides recorded in Irish prisons in 2007, and 11 in 2008. (2009 figures are not yet available.)