Daily Prisoner Population


Statement on Prison Capacity

The Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the Courts. As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.

Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, officials in the Irish Prison Service make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured Temporary Release. The legislative basis for temporary release is set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1960, as amended by the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Act 2003.  Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case by case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made.

The Irish Prison Service is working closely with officials in the Department of Justice to take steps to ensure a safe working environment for staff, and the safety and security of people in custody.

Government has made significant capital funding available to the Irish Prison Service to enhance the existing prison infrastructure and provide additional capacity. In recent years, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by in excess of 300 additional spaces.

An increase of €79m (18%) in Budget 2025 towards a total of €525m in funding to increase prison capacity and support prisoner services. The Irish Prison Service capital budget is €53m in 2025, an increase of €22.5m on the original 2024 allocation, focused on bringing additional prison spaces into the system. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with the Department of Justice to progress plans to bring on stream accommodation to support the target of 1,500 additional prison places as set out under Programme for Government.

 

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Daily Prisoner Population

The Irish Prison Service collates daily data, on a prison by prison basis, on the prisoner population. This includes details of:

a. The number in custody and bed capacity, both male and female

b. The number of remands

and

c. The number on temporary release.

To access the daily prisoner population click the following link.

2025 Prison Populations

2024 Prison Populations

2023 Prison Populations

2022 Prison Populations

2021 Prison Populations

2020 Prison Populations

2019 Prison Populations

2018 Prison Populations

2017 Prison Populations

2016 Prison Populations

2015 Prison Populations