2161. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the actions being taken to reduce overcrowding in the Irish prison system. [55106/26]

I am acutely aware of the capacity constraints in our prisons and the resulting challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the courts and has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time.

I am pursuing a dual approach to address the issue of prison overcrowding by both increasing prison capacity and pursuing further measures to support increased use of non-custodial sanctions.

Since 2024, 265 spaces have been constructed across the Prison Estate, with 126 finished in 2024, 106 in 2025 and a further 33 so far in 2026. A further 32 spaces will be built this year, and 70 in 2027

The Government has allocated funding for a significant building programme in the prison estate. On conclusion of the NDP Review in July 2025, I secured a record capital investment of €528 million from 2026 to 2030, of which €495 million is being invested in building projects to further increase capacity, with an overall target of delivering over 1,500 spaces by 2031.

This will include a large extension to the existing Cork Prison, a new block in Wheatfield, and an additional block extension at Midlands prison. This is in addition to spaces created at Castlerea, Mountjoy and the Dóchas Centre.

Last year, a total of 304 Recruit Prison Officers were recruited by the Irish Prison Service. The pay budget, totalling €383m in 2026, will fund the IPS staffing plans which include a target of 250 prison officers onboarded in 2026. Additionally, the IPS will work with the Department to onboard 26 additional permanent clinical and allied health posts, in response to the challenges of managing prisoners with major mental illness.

Measures to support non-custodial sanctions are also important. The Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 has been passed by both Houses and will amend the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 to support and encourage greater use of community service orders (CSOs).

It includes an amendment to oblige the courts to consider a CSO in lieu of a prison sentence of up to 24 months’ duration (the current such threshold being 12 months) and to give reasons where they consider that a CSO should not be imposed in such a case. This amendment will oblige judges to demonstrate that they have considered this alternative.

The Bill will further amend the 1983 Act to increase the maximum community service hours that a judge may order from 240 to 480.

Budget 2026 also provides for a 13% increase in funding for the Probation Service. This additional funding will be used to increase the use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts, expand restorative justice services, and expand supervised temporary release schemes nationally.

The Programme for Government commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of people, including those on temporary release and on bail. Under Budget 2026, I secured funding of €2.1 million for the project and anticipate electronic monitoring will be operational in 2026.

Additionally, a Prison Overcrowding Response Group (PORG) was established in July 2023, composed of officials from my Department and representatives from relevant agencies. The Group considers measures to address capacity issues in the prison estate. In June 2024, following a report from this Group, a range of actions was agreed.

Actions agreed by the PORG include developing new responses to deliver structured temporary release for suitable prisoners, actions to encourage greater use of community service, and advancing legislative changes to support delivery of community-based sanctions. The PORG continues to meet and work to implement these actions is ongoing.