Prison Statistics

 

 

 

Table 1: Overview of prison population between 1970 and 2006.

Year	Daily average number of persons in custody	Total number of committals per year1
1970	749	n/a
1971	926	5,678
1972	1,035	6,364
1973	963	5,622
1974	9602	5,455
1975	1,0173	n/a
1976	1,049	5,189
1977	1,029	4,998
1978	1,179	5,194
1979	1,140	4,985
1980	1,215	6,4214
1981	1,196	6,010
1982	1,236	6,715
1983	1,450	7,197
1984	1,594	7,024
1985	1,863	8,062
1986	1,869	8,264
1987	1,943	7,913
1988	1,962	7,813
1989	2,067	8,779
1990	2,108	7,759
1991	2,141	8,390
1991	2,185	11,485
1993	2,171	12,457
1994	2,1335	12,091
1995	2,1216	9,9287
1996	2,191	10,355
1997	2,422	11,429
1998	2,610	11,307
1999	2,8718	10,8349
2000	2,948	11,626
2001	3,112	12,127
2002	3,165	11,860
2003	3,176	11,78210
2004	3,199	10,657
2005	3,151	10,658
2006	3,191	12,31711

 

1. The figure for the total number of committals per year is based on the number of individuals (i) committed on remand or for trial, (ii) committed under sentence by the courts,(iii) committed on ‘alien’/immigration warrants as well as (iv) those initially committed on remand/ awaiting trial and then subsequently recommitted on conviction, (iv) those recommitted for breaching their parole or temporary release (temporary release and parole are synonymous in an Irish context) and/or (v) those recommitted after absconding.
2. In the introduction to the 1974 Annual Report on Prisons and Places of Detention, the daily average number in custody figure appears as 961 (see page 3). However, the total figure in the daily average population table on page 33 equates to 960. We use the second figure in this table.
3. This figure is taken from O’Donnell, O’Sullivan and Healy (2003) Crime and Punishment in Ireland 1922 to 2003: A Statistical Sourcebook. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
   
4. From 1980 onwards, a breakdown of the number of committals on remand, received for trial and under sentence is provided for St. Patrick’s Institution.
5. In the introduction to the 1994 Annual Report, the daily average number of persons in custody in 2004 appears as 2,144 (see page 10). However, according to the figures quoted in Table 3 on page 24, the daily average number of persons in custody in 2004 was 2,133. The second figure is used in the above table.
6. The daily average number of persons in custody figure that appears in the overview of the prisoner population section of the ‘Irish Prison Service Report on Prisons and Places of Detention for the years 1995-1998’ (page 21), differs from the figure quoted in the 'Prison Population 1995-1998' table on page 79 of the same report. The second figure is used in the above table.
7. Total committal figures for 1995-1998 are available in the ‘Irish Prison Service Report on Prisons and Places of Detention for the years 1995-1998’ on page 80.
8. The total daily average prisoner population figures for 1999 and 2000 that appear on page 10 of the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 1999 and 2000, differs from the figures for the total daily average prisoner population that appear on page 77 of the same report. The second set of figures are used in the above table.
9. The total committals figures for 1999 and 2000 are available on page 78 of the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 1999 and 2000.
10. This figure is based on a revised figure for 2003 as presented  on page 10 of the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2004
11. This figure is higher than the total committals figure quoted in the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2006. This is because the figure quoted in the Annual Report 2006 (12,153) does not appear to include committals which were already in custody on remand/ awaiting trial at the start of the year and were subsequently recommitted under sentence. According to the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2006, 160 committals were in custody at the start of the year on remand/ awaiting trial and were subsequently recommitted on conviction. This increases the total committals under sentence figure from 5,642 to 5,802 and the total committals figure by an equivalent amount.

(Source: Irish Prison Service Annual Reports and ‘Crime and Punishment in Ireland 1922-2003: A Statistical Sourcebook’)

 

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