Annual Report of Prison Service for 2008

14th August 2009

The Irish Prison Service Annual Report for 2008 was published today, and is available online here.

The report shows dramatic increases in the numbers being committed to prison:

• an increase of 13.6% in committals to Irish prisons
• an increase of 24.6% in sentenced committals to Irish prisons
• an increase of 88.7% in committals for non-payment of court ordered fines
• an increase of 38% in prisoners serving 10 years or more, which is a direct result of mandatory and presumptive sentencing practice
• an increase of 54% in short-term sentences (3 months or less)

Other significant figures:

• 43% of all committals under sentence in 2008 were for 3 months or less; 62% were for 6 months or less.
• 87.5% of sentenced committals in 2008 were for non-violent offences.
• 93% of women committed under sentence to prison in 2008 were for non-violent offences.

Read more:

• Additional statistics from IPS Annual Report 2008 
• IPRT press release on publication of the IPS Annual Report 2008