Irish Examiner: Record prison overcrowding 'set to worsen'

17th January 2024

On 17 January 2023, Cormac O'Keeffe of the Irish Examiner analyzed data from December 15 for each year, showing the mounting pressures on the prison system.

Irish Penal Reform Trust said the “over-reliance” on imprisonment in the courts means the increase in prisoner population was predictable and warned “it will continue to get worse”.

Increased court activity, longer prison sentences, new offences, greater numbers of people held on remand, more people with severe mental illnesses being jailed, and increases in female committals have all been identified as contributory factors.

An analysis by the Irish Examiner, based on data from December 15 for each year, shows the mounting pressures on the system:

• The number of people in prison custody increased by 9% between 2022 and 2023 and by 28% since 2017;
• The number of prisoners given temporary release rose by 54% last year and by 144% since 2017;
• The number of people held on remand awaiting trial increased by 12% last year and 49% since 2017;
• The total number of prisoners in the system, including those in custody and on temporary release, rose by 12% last year and 34% since 2017;
• Bed capacity increased by 2% last year (4,411 to 4,514) and by 6% since 2017 (4,273); 
• Number of people in custody as a percentage of bed capacity has gone from 87% in 2017 to 93% in 2019 and 99% in 2022 to 105% in 2023.

Read the full article on the Irish Examiner.