Facts & Figures

1.  The current prison population is 4,491 (29th July 2010). This does not include those out on temporary release, which is 784.

2.  The rate of imprisonment in Ireland is 93 per 100,000 of population (April 2010)

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) is holding 721 prisoners in a prison that should hold no more than  540. (29 July 2010)

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 64% over capacity, with 140 women; it is designed for 85 inmates. (June 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 436 over the past 12 months; this represents a rise of 11% in the number in custody. (July 2010)

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 220 children and young people in custody in St. Patrick’s Institution. (29th July 2010.) 

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

30.  Since 1997 more than 1,800 new prison spaces have been added to the prison system.

31.  The Irish prisoner population reached an all-time high of 4,491 persons in custody on July 29, 2010.