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.
Related items:
- Niamh McCormack spoke to Angela Noone-Faull of CRCfm in Mayo on The Chatroom,
- New prisons ‘will not solve’ overcrowding crisis
- Saoirse Brady speaks to News at One in an interview given as part of coverage of Irish Prisons Annual Report 2024 Saoilaunch
- Niamh McCormack - Interview about the Committee on the Prevention of Torture's report on places of detention in Ireland.
- More early release needed to alleviate overcrowded prisons, says Irish Penal Reform Trust