The average annual cost of holding a person in prison has surpassed €100,000 for the first time in the history of the State, according to new figures.
The cost of maintaining an available, staffed prison space reached €103,334 last year, representing a 28.6% increase in operational spending over a five-year period, reports Breaking News.
Rising costs are being driven by operational demands and broader economic pressures, according to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
“The main reasons for the increasing costs relate to increased variable costs, including higher prisoner numbers, higher capacity, higher payroll costs, and inflation,” he said in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD Barry Ward, reports Breaking News.
In 2021, the average annual cost of a staffed prison space stood at €80,335.
This rose by 4.6% to €84,067 in 2022, and by a further 5.3% to €88,523 the following year, reports Breaking News.
A sharp increase of 11.9% was then recorded in 2024, when the cost climbed to €99,072, before crossing the six-figure threshold for the first time last year.
The figures provided by the minister exclude capital expenditure on buildings, information and communications technology, and vehicle purchases, covering only net operational expenditure such as staff salaries, utilities, maintenance and basic prison services, reports Breaking News.
A specific breakdown of costs relating to food, transport, education and utilities could not be provided, as calculating that data would require “an inordinate amount of time and resources,” O’Callaghan said.
The surge in costs comes as the prison service struggles to manage severe overcrowding, with the State’s 14 detention facilities operating at 124% of capacity earlier in the week, forcing 486 inmates to sleep on the floor, reports Breaking News.
The female prison in Limerick was proportionately the most severely overcrowded facility, running at 168% of capacity, with authorities using camp beds to accommodate six women in cells.
O’Callaghan explained that the Irish Prison Service is legally obliged to accept every individual remanded or sentenced by the courts and has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time, and outlined plans to expand prison capacity, reports Breaking News.
The Midlands Prison had the highest number of inmates sleeping on the floor during the week, with 166 prisoners accommodated on mattresses. Cork Prison had 99 inmates on the floor, while 50 were sleeping on mattresses at both Cloverhill and Castlerea prisons, reports Breaking News.
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