Facts & Figures
- There are 4,612 people in custody in Ireland (1 September 2023).
- The rate of imprisonment in Ireland is approximately 89 per 100,000 of the general population (beginning of 2023).
- In 2022, the average cost of an “available, staffed prison space” was €84,046, a 4.6% increase from the year before.
- The overall daily average number of people in custody in 2022 was 4,122 compared to 3,792 in 2021, an increase of 8.7% (+330).
- In 2022, there were 3,046 people in prison committed under sentence serving sentences of less than 12 months, an increase from 2,548 in 2021.
- The majority of Irish prisoners have never sat a State exam and over half left school before the age of 15.
- The average number of females in custody in 2022 was 173, a 17% increase from the 2021 average of 144.
- The daily average number of female offenders in custody rose by 14% in the ten-year period between 2012 and 2022.
- As of October 2023, there are 7 people in prison slopping out, without in-cell sanitation.
- As of October 2023, 2,369 (51.3%) prisoners were required to use the toilet in the presence of another prisoner (+213 since January 2023).
- As of October 2023, 2,004 (43%) people in prison were accommodated in single cells (down from 47.8%).
- In 2022, there were 234 committals to prison for the non-payment of a court-ordered fine, a further decrease on the 2021 figure of 234.
- Committals under immigration increased to 117 in 2022 after a decrease of 65.2% to 86 in 2021, from 247 in 2020.
- The number of sentenced committals for road and traffic offences increased from 464 in 2021 to 487 in 2022 (+10%).
- People in prison are 23 times more likely to come from (and return to) a seriously deprived area, compared to the least deprived areas. (O'Donnell et al., 2007)
- In October 2023, of 710 people in prison on restricted regime: 22 were Rule 62 (on grounds of order); 685 were Rule 63 (protection/vulnerability); 1 was Rule 64 (medical); and 1 person in prison was restricted due to discipline (Rule 67, Part 3 Prisons Act 2007).
- As of October 2023, 58 people in prison held on a restricted regime were aged 18-24.
- As of October 2023, 170 people in prison were being held on 22+ hour lock-up.
- On 30 November 2022, 28 people in prison were serving sentences of less than 3 months.
- As of December 2023, there were 683 sentenced prisoners aged 50+;18.2% of all sentenced prisoners.
- Over one-third (36.9%) of all persons committed to prison in 2022 declared Dublin as their county of residence.
- The number of people committed with a life sentence decreased by two from 19 in 2021 to 17 in 2022.
- In 2011, over 70% of prisoners were unemployed on committal and a similar percentage self-report as not having any particular trade or occupation.
- In the two decades from 2001 to 2021, the average number of people in custody increased by 20%, from 3,165 to 3,792.
- On 29 January 2024, 915 people in prison were on remand/trial.