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Irish Penal Reform Trust

Prison overcrowding crisis has deepened further this year

5th September 2025

In an article on their website, RTE journalist Eleanor Burnhill writes about the prison overcrowding crisis following the launch of the Irish Prison Service 2024 Annual Report.  "The Irish Penal Reform Trust said it was deeply concerned at the sharp rise in committals, ongoing overcrowding and the spiralling cost of keeping someone in prison.

"From 2023 to 2024 the cost of keeping somebody in prison for a year has risen by 11% so it nearly costs 100,000 euro to keep a person in prison for a year," its Executive Director Saoirse Brady said.

She said the cost of overseeing someone on probation would be much less.

Read the full article here. 

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