Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
718. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice the number of recruit prison officers recruited for the Irish Prison Service in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and the number of prison officers who left the Irish Prison Service during this period, in tabular form. [40668/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recruitment of Recruit Prison Officers by the Irish Prison Service has been ongoing since 2017 and has regard to such factors as organisational needs and exit levels. To support the operation of the prison estate and ensure that the organisation can continue to provide important rehabilitative services to those in our care in a safe and secure manner, the Irish Prison Service was allocated an additional staffing package of a €6.5m under Budget 2023.
It is expected that by year end up to 250 Recruit Prison Officers will have been recruited in total and I can inform the Deputy that from the beginning of the year to 4 September 2023 a total of 133 Recruit Prison Officers have been recruited.
I can further inform the Deputy that the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Irish Prison Service are currently running a recruitment competition for Recruit Prison Officers which will close to applicants on 28 September 2023. Further details on this campaign can be found on www.publicjobs.ie and www.irishprisons.ie.
The information requested by the Deputy in respect of the number of Recruit Prison Officers who have joined the Irish Prison Service and the number of Prison Officers who have left the Irish Prison Service from 2021 to date is provided in the tables below.
|
Number of Recruit Prison Officers recruited in 2021 |
Number of Recruit Prison Officers recruited in 2022 |
Number of Recruit Prison Officers recruited in 2023 to date |
|
133 |
128 |
133 |
|
Number of Prison Officers who left the Irish Prison Service in 2021 |
Number of Prison Officers who left the Irish Prison Service in 2022 |
Number of Prison Officers who left the Irish Prison Service in 2023 to date |
|
*76 |
*59 |
*50 |
* These figures include retirements and all other forms of exit.
