Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
561. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the reason for the increase by almost 10% in the Irish Prison Service population since January 2022; the efforts being made to reduce this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27262/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe total number of prisoners in custody on 24 May 2022 was 4,082 compared with a bed capacity of 4,375. This represents an occupancy level of 93%.
Prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic the number of people in custody had been on an upward trajectory, however, this trend was halted in March 2020 when the Prison Service took action to reduce the number in custody to support an effective infection control regime. The impact of Covid in 2020 and 2021 saw the numbers in prison remain at a lower level due to a number of reasons, including reduced Courts activity during the period.
The Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts and the prison system is, of course, subject to peaks and troughs. Numbers are particularly high when the Courts are at their busiest and following the return to a more normal level of Court activity, committals numbers have increased across the prison system. There were 2,409 committals to prison in the first four months of 2022 which is a 19% increase on the same period in 2021. As a result, almost all of the closed institutions are operating at, or near, full capacity.
The Prison Service regularly approves transfers out of affected prisons to other locations in order to prevent, in so far as possible, unacceptable occupancy levels and the Service are currently progressing a number of projects that will deliver additional prison spaces over the next twelve months. These projects include the reopening of the Training Unit on the Mountjoy campus to accommodate older prisoners which will see another 96 prisoner spaces operational in the coming weeks.
In addition, the construction of a new male wing and a female prison is underway in Limerick Prison and will provide 90 additional male and 22 additional female cell spaces. The construction of the new accommodation is expected to be completed by the end of the summer and will become operational by the end of 2022. This timeline assumes no further impact on construction activity or supply chain issues due to the pandemic.
The Prison Service has two supervised early release schemes, the Community Return Scheme for prisoners in the one to eight year sentence category and the Community Support Scheme for prisoners with sentences of less than 12 months. Since its inception in 2011 to the end of 2021, 2,990 prisoners have been released early from prison to take part in the Return Scheme and 3,660 prisoners have been released to take part in the Support Scheme.
As part of the work to ensure a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, the Government committed to reviewing policy options for prison and penal reform. The resulting penal policy action plan is expected to be published shortly. The plan will consider the appropriate use of non-custodial sanctions and the role they can play in addressing criminality, reducing reoffending and providing protection to the public while holding the individual accountable.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014 seeks to update the Probation of Offenders Act 1907. The aim of the Bill is to provide a modern statement of the law governing community sanctions, and the role of the Probation Service in the criminal justice system. It will facilitate the effective and efficient use of community sanctions by the courts, and will ensure that the courts have a wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences.
My Justice Plan for 2022 commits to the policy review of the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014 being completed in the second quarter of this year. Once this review is complete, it is envisaged that it will be published and a revised General Scheme agreed in Q3 of this year with the aim of publishing the Bill in the final quarter of 2022.
