New figures show that there are three times more women in Irish prisons than there were a decade ago.
The Director of the Prison Service, Sean Aylward, has said that as many as 40 women prisoners are out on temporary release every day because there are not enough spaces for them.
Mr Aylward also said that in the last three years there has been a 27% increase in the number of people being sent to jail for life.
He was speaking at the annual conference of the Prison Officers' Association in Ennis, Co Clare.
