Director General


Caron McCaffrey was appointed Director General of the Irish Prison Service on 13th December 2018. Caron is the first female Director General of the Irish Prison Service. Caron has served on the board of The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) since 2019. Europris is open to those European national Prison and Correctional Administrations which are able and willing to support the agreed aims and objectives of the Association. Caron is the current President of Europris, having being elected in October 2021.

The Director General (DG) of the Irish Prison Service has responsibility for the leadership and management of the Service and the implementation of Government policies and strategies. The DG is accountable for providing strong leadership and direction in a complex and rapidly evolving pressurised environment with a team of more than 3,400 staff and a budget of approximately €414 million.

Caron McCaffrey has worked for twenty three years in the justice sector, first serving in the Department of Justice and Equality in Asylum Policy Division, the Press Office, and the Youth Justice Unit before taking up a role in the Irish Prison Service in 2006 as Press and Programme Manager. She was promoted to Director of Corporate Services in 2008 and has since held responsibility for a range of portfolios including Human Resources, and Finance and Estates.

She is a graduate of NUI Maynooth (BA) and Dublin City University (MA International Relations), holds an Advanced Diploma in Applied Employment Law from the Kings Inns, and recently graduated from the UCD Smurfit Business School with a Postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Governance.

 

Director General, Irish Prison Service, Ms Caron McCaffrey