The number of people sent to Irish prisons fell last year, with 5.8 per cent fewer people committed to prison in 2013 than a year earlier.
Figures contained in the Irish Prison Service’s annual report for 2013, published this afternoon, show the number of individual prisoners committed to Irish jails in 2013 stood at 13,055, compared to 13,860 in 2012.
A total of 15,735 committals were recorded in 2013, a 7.6 per cent drop on the 2012 figure.
The disparity between the number of individuals sent to prison and the number of committals is due to cases where individuals were committed to prison for more than one crime.
Just short of 90 per cent of committals recorded in 2013 related to prison sentences of 12 months or less.
Of the 13,055 people sent to Irish jails in 2013, the majority, 82.2 per cent, were male and 17.8 per cent female.
The figures show while the male population of prisoners has decreased year-on-year since 2011, the number of female prisoners is on the rise.
In both 2004 and 2005, a total of 906 women were committed to prison, a figure which has risen year-on-year since then. The number of women committed to prison last year peaked at 2,326 and women now make up 18 per cent of the prison population, compared to 15 per cent a year earlier.
Joint strategy
To coincide with today's report, the Irish Prison Service and The Probation Service have also published a joint strategy specifically geared towards female offenders entitled An Effective Response to Women Who Offend .
Of the overall number of people committed to Irish prisons in 2013 - both male and female - 82 per cent were Irish nationals, with other EU nationals making up 12.1 per cent. African nationals accounted for 2.2 per cent, people from Asia made up 1.7 per cent and European nationals from outside the EU accounted for 1 per cent.
More than a quarter of all people sent to prison last year, 27.6 per cent, were residents of Dublin. A further 15.3 per cent gave Cork addresses, with Limerick accounting for 7.9 per cent of counties of residence indicated to the Prison Service.
A total of 12,489 committals were under sentence last year, a figure which excludes 2,756 prisoners who were on remand, 396 who were jailed under immigration laws, 86 jailed under European Arrest Warrants and eight jailed for contempt of court.
In a statement on the annual reports of the prison and probation services this afternoon, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said he was encouraged to note the first significant decrease in committals to prison since 2007 with 15,735 committals, a decrease of 7.6 per cent on the 2012 total of 17,026.
While he welcomed the reduction in committals to prison by 5.8 per cent last year from the figure for 2012, there were 8,121 committals for the non-payment of a court ordered fine.
“I am strongly of the view that we need to keep the numbers of people committed to prison for the non-payment of fines to the absolute minimum.”
He was “committed to pursuing to alternatives to custody - and much is being done to ensure community service remains a viable option available for use by the courts”.
“While last year’s figures indicate another drop in the number of orders made this needs to be viewed in the context of a similar reduction in court-ordered committals to prison reported by the Irish Prison Service figures for 2013.”
He said the recently published Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013 would make community service an integral part of the fine recovery system. “In time, I am confident that this will lead to an increase in the number of community service orders. I am equally confident that the Probation Service is well placed to facilitate the delivery of these orders.”
He said he had received Government approval for the drafting of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014 and recently published the general scheme of that Bill. “The new legislation will modernise the legislative foundation of the Probation Service’s work and facilitate the effective and efficient use of community sanctions by the courts.
“It will also ensure that the courts have a wide range of appropriate options for dealing with persons who have committed minor offences. This should help to reduce the numbers of people unnecessarily imprisoned at significant cost to the taxpayer for minor offences.”