Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2022
534. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice the current total capacity of Irish prisons; the number of persons who are currently in prison; the breakdown of all inmates by gender; the number of inmates who are Irish citizens and those who are non-nationals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25766/22]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that the current total capacity of Irish Prisons is 4,375. On the 16 May 2022, there was a total of 4,022 prisoners in custody, of which 161 were female and 3,861 were male.
I can further inform the Deputy that the most recent statistical snapshot available (30 April 2022) indicates that there were 3,982 prisoners in custody of which 3,389 were recorded as Irish and 593 were recorded as Non Irish.
The Irish Prison Service collates and publishes the prisoner population breakdown on a daily basis and this information is available on the Irish Prison Service website www.irishprisons.ie. This breakdown includes the number of prisoners incarcerated and the bed capacity in each prison. The information can be found in the Information Centre – under Statistics & Information – Daily Prisoner Population.
The Prison Service also have advised that detailed statistical information in relation to gender and nationality are collated and published on a monthly basis and this information is available in the Information Centre – under Statistics & Information – Snapshot Statistics.
