IPRT Statement on Budget 2027

8th October 2026

Budget 2027 provides a welcome increase in funding for Youth Diversion projects, but prison expansion must not come at the expense of community alternatives 

Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), Ireland’s leading organisation campaigning for human rights in the penal system, has responded to the Budget 2027 announcement. 

Irish Penal Reform Trust Executive Director, Saoirse Brady, said: 

“IPRT welcomes the Government’s increased investment in justice services in Budget 2027, including additional funding for youth justice, prison care and rehabilitation and the Probation Service. Investment in community-based interventions, rehabilitative programmes and diversion measures is essential if we are to reduce reoffending and build a safer and more effective justice system. 

IPRT particularly welcomes the announcement of an additional €11.5 million for youth justice initiatives, bringing total funding to almost €50 million. This clear commitment to invest in youth diversion pathways which is essential to support young people to change behaviour alongside education, youth and community work. The nationwide coverage of Youth Diversion Projects is an important development as they are embedded in communities around the country and provide essential support not only to young people but also to their parents and siblings. Youth justice workers know how to engage families in an effective and meaningful way. Therefore, Minister Ardagh’s stated commitment to improving interagency cooperation, investing in early intervention and supporting families signals a welcome resolve to engage in initiatives that are based on evidence and have been proven to work.  We also welcome the proposed introduction of a new stepdown project which will assist young people following their release from Oberstown to support their reintegration into life in the community. This is long overdue and will make a significant difference in the lives of young people on release. 

However, IPRT is concerned at the scale and direction of investment across the broader criminal justice system. While the €2.9 million increase in funding for the Probation Service, representing a 4.17 per cent increase, appears significant at first glance, when considered against an inflation rate of approximately 3.9 per cent, it represents an increase of only around 0.27 per cent in real terms. This offers limited scope for any significant expansion of community-based sanctions and is set against a backdrop of a large increase in the capital budget of 40 per cent.  Minister O’Callaghan’s programme to deliver 1,500 additional spaces by 2031 has seen the capital budget increase from €68 million to €95 million. While IPRT recognises the need for an investment in prison infrastructure to ensure safe and dignified conditions for people in custody, we do not believe that prison expansion is the answer to prison overcrowding. IPRT maintains that capital investment in Irish prison infrastructure must go towards modernising the estate and replacing squalid, cramped, and overcrowded cells with modern, single occupancy cells, rather than expanding the prison estate or creating further shared cells. In 2025, in Ireland, notably, 74 per cent of sentenced committals were for terms of 12 months or less while the same percentage of people committed on remand did not go on to serve a custodial sentence when their case came before the Court.  Prison should remain a sanction of last resort with greater investment in community-based sanctions to reduce committals, where possible. At a time when it costs over €103,000 to imprison one person for one year, reducing reliance on imprisonment makes sound fiscal sense for the exchequer as well as leading to better outcomes for individuals and communities.  

Today, there are 5,465 people in Irish prisons in a system with a maximum bed capacity of 4,675. Last night, 171 people had to sleep on mattresses placed on the ground of prison cells. In addition, due to pressures outside of the Irish Prison Service, people are spending longer periods on remand than in the past. IPRT is therefore disappointed that Budget 2027 continues to prioritise creating new prison spaces, which will not address the overcrowding crisis in either the short or the long term. These new prison spaces are costly, will not provide an alternative to remanding people in custody, will not provide any immediate relief to prison overcrowding, and will not ultimately reduce the number of people in prison, particularly those who are sentenced for short periods of time who should have been diverted rather than imprisoned."  

Saoirse Brady went on to say: 

"We note the specific allocation in Budget 2027 to fund the electronic monitoring pilot scheme and reiterate our view that any such proposal must be carefully considered and subject to a human rights and proportionality assessment. We know in other jurisdictions it has resulted in net-widening and had a particularly detrimental impact on the rights of marginalised communities. We must take care that if electronic monitoring is introduced, that appropriate safeguards are built in from the outset to ensure it does not unduly or disproportionately impact the rights of individuals." 

Speaking on other key areas of Budget 2027, Saoirse Brady said: 

“We welcome the 22 per cent increase in investment in prisoner care and rehabilitation in the Budget to bring the total investment in this area to €66 million although it is unclear what additional services this will provide. Services in relation to addiction and mental health should be prioritised, as well as ensuring that everyone in prison has a plan in place on how they spend their time in custody and to support them on release.  

We acknowledge the additional funding allocated to the IPS to recruit additional staff which will hopefully alleviate the immense pressure on Prison Officers and encourage ongoing investment in staff training and upskilling opportunities, particularly in supporting the mental health needs of people in custody.” 

ENDS  

NOTES FOR EDITORS: 

Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) | www.iprt.ie  IPRT is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of everyone in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy, with prison as a last resort. 

1. The Departmental Press Conference for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration took place at 11am today – watch back here (opens in new window).  
2. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration press release is here.
3.  IPRT’s Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2027  
4. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration press release is here. 
5. Increased cost of imprisonment: The average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space during the calendar year 2025 was €103,334. 

Budget 2027 provides: 

• Additional funding of €106 million to the Irish Prison Service (IPS), bringing the total budget for the IPS to almost €686 million. 
• Investment of €95 million in capital funding to deliver 1,500 additional prison spaces by 2031. 
• An increase of 4.17 per cent (€2.9 million) in funding to the Probation Service, Release scheme, and provide initial staffing for a Bail Supervision Scheme. 
• €1.5 million to allow for the rollout of electronic tagging. 
• €11.5 million additional funding for Youth Diversion Projects, which now provide opportunities to prevent young people from getting involved in anti-social or criminal behaviour in every part of the State.