Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

[Deputy Alan Shatter.]
Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers
Year
Total Persons committed
2009 9,371
2010 10,877
2011* 11,285
*The 2011 figure is provisional pending the publication of the Irish Prison Service Annual Report.
There has been a consistent increase in the total prisoner population in Ireland over recent
years. The problem of prison overcrowding therefore remains a challenging issue which unfortunately
cannot be resolved overnight.
I share the view of the Thornton Hall Review Group that decisive action is required on a
number of fronts in order to address the problem of overcrowding and poor physical conditions
particularly in Mountjoy and Cork Prisons. Whilst the reduced capital envelope for this year
will not allow the Prison Service to proceed with the construction of Thornton Hall or Kilworth
prisons, this does not signal a reversal of the Government’s decision last year to approve in
principle the recommendations contained in the Thornton Hall Review Group Report. It has
been necessary to defer the commencement of these projects but it is my strong intention to
revisit the timeframe for their delivery later this year.
I am also continuing to pursue alternatives to custody and progress is being made. The
Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 requires the sentencing judge
to consider the imposition of community service where a custodial sentence of 12 months or
less is being considered. A number of key recommendations contained in the Thornton Hall
Review Group Report are also receiving priority attention in my Department and many are in
the process of being implemented, most notably the introduction of an incentivised scheme for
earned temporary release under which offenders who pose no threat to the community are
offered early temporary release in return for supervised community service. In this regard, a
six month pilot project commenced in October 2011 in which it is envisaged that a total of 130
prisoners will participate.
The Fines Act 2010 introduced measures to prevent the automatic imprisonment of fine
defaulters. I intend to bring forward new legislative proposals to introduce a system of “attachment
orders” allowing a small amount of money to be taken from wages or social welfare
facilitating the payment of the debt or fine over time. The concept of restorative justice also
has a place in the range of non-custodial options which are available for use by the courts. The
Deputy can be assured that my focus is to encourage the use of such options to the greatest
extent possible.
476. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons
who were imprisoned here for each year from 2008 to 2011, inclusive, for the non-payment of
fines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7599/12]
Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter): A breakdown of the number of
persons imprisoned for non-payment of fines for each of the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 is set
out in the following table:
Year
Number of Persons
2008 2,344
2009 4,350
2010 5,995
548