Press release
Minister Flanagan publishes Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2018
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The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, has welcomed an 80% reduction in the number of people committed to prison for non-payment of fines. The finding is contained in the Irish Prison Service’s Annual Report for 2018, which the minister is publishing today. There were 455 committals to prison as a consequence of the non-payment of a court ordered fine during 2018, compared to a figure of 2,261 in 2017. As a result, the total committals to prison decreased by 13.1% in 2018, from 9,287 to 8,071.
Minister Flanagan said: “The implementation of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 has had a very significant impact on the committals to our prisons. We must continue to ensure that violent offenders and other serious offenders are committed to prison, while at the same time switching away from prison sentences and towards less costly non-custodial options for non-violent and less serious offenders.”
Alternatives to custody for those serving short sentences continues to be a priority, as evidenced in the 10% increase in the issuing of Community Service Orders in 2018, equating to over €3 million worth of unpaid work for the benefit of communities nationwide.
The report also highlights the importance of collaborative work between the Irish Prison Service and other statutory and non-statutory agencies within the criminal justice system. This includes successful programmes such as Community Return and Community Support Schemes as well JARC – the Joint Agency Response to Crime, the work of which was recognised with a Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Award in 2018.
The minister also noted important progress in the IPS’s service in Portlaoise including the opening of the National Violence Reduction Unit in the Midlands Prison and the refurbishment of the Irish Prison Service College.
The minister said: “I was delighted to perform the opening of the National Violence Reduction Unit in the Midlands Prison in November which heralded a new collaborative approach to the management of violent offenders and has contributed greatly to making a safer environment for all those who live and work in our prisons. In addition, the completion of the refurbishment of Irish Prison Service College in Portlaoise has greatly enhanced our ability to provide world class training to our staff and to the new Recruit Prison Officers who will attend there over the coming years.”
The Irish Prison Service also opened a second Training Centre in west Dublin over the course of the year. 1,391 staff received continuous professional development programmes in 2018. Over the course of the year, 181 new Recruit Prison Officers also entered the Service.
Continued use of non-custodial options where appropriate, and the ongoing improvements in facilities and training, are particularly important given the rise in committals for other offences, other than fines.
While there was a 13.1% decrease in total committals, this was driven by the huge reduction in fines committals. When fines excluded, committals under sentence for all groups excluding fines increased by 15.4% in 2018, from 3,776 to 4,357. Increases were experienced in all remaining sentence groups with the exception of those sentenced to 1-2 years and those sentenced to life. The most significant increases were for sentences of less than 12 months, with those sentenced for less than 3 months increasing by 158, or 34%, and those sentenced of 3 to less than 6 months increasing by 196, or 15.1%. In total, 71% of all committals under sentence, excluding fines, were for sentences of 12 months or less. As a result, the numbers in custody in our prisons rose sharply from 3,631 on 1 January 2018 to 3,911 on 31 December 2018, an increase of 280 or 7.7%. This increase resulted in pressure being experienced in a number of areas across the system including remand and female prisoners.
The minister said that he was concerned by the sharp rise in prisoner numbers and that action was being taken. He added: “My Department has been working closely with the Director General of the Irish Prison Service, and we are taking a number of short and medium term steps and actions to address the issue of rising prison numbers. This includes the re-opening of unused accommodation including the Training Unit, which will provide an additional 140 prison spaces. An audit of existing accommodation is underway and I am told this has the potential to provide up to an additional 100 spaces. In addition, the construction contract for a stand-alone female prison in Limerick as well as a new wing to Limerick male prison was recently signed and this development will provide 130 new spaces.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014
The Act provides that:
Key statistics from Prison Service Annual Report
8,071 committals to prison in 2018, a decrease of 13.1% on the 2017 total of 9,287.
6,490 persons were sent to prison in 2018, compared to 7,484 in 2017. Of those, 88.2% were male and 11.8% were female.
Daily average number of prisoners in custody in 2018 was 3,893, compared to 3,680 in 2017. This represents an increase of 5.8%.
The average number of female offenders in custody was 165, a 14.6% increase on the 2017 average of 144.
455 committals to prison as a consequence of the non-payment of a court ordered fine during 2018. This is a decrease of 79.8% on the 2017 figure of 2,261.
Committals under sentence (Excluding Fines)
There were 4,357 committals under sentence in 2018, which is an increase of 581 or 15.4% on 2017. Numbers committed under sentence of less than 3 months has increased by 34.3%, from 460 in 2017 to 618 in 2018.
Numbers committed under sentence of 3 to less than 6 months has increased by 15.1%, from 1,295 in 2017 to 1,491 in 2018.
Numbers committed under sentence of 6 to less than 12 months has increased by 12.6%, from 884 in 2017 to 995 in 2018.
Numbers committed on sentences of 1 to less than 2 years has decreased by 2.9%, from 346 in 2017 to 336 in 2018.
Numbers committed on sentences of 2 to less than 3 years has increased by 13%, from 299 in 2017 to 338 in 2018.
Numbers committed on sentences of 3 to less than 5 years has increased by 23.9%, from 276 in 2017 to 342 in 2018.
Numbers committed on sentences of 5 to less than 10 years has increased by 9.6%, from 167 in 2017 to 183 in 2018.
Numbers committed on sentences of 10 years plus has increased by 22.2%, from 27 in 2017 to 33 in 2018.
Numbers committed on a Life sentence has decreased by 1, or 4.5%, from 22 in 2017 to 21 in 2018.