The Minister for Justice has said too many people are being sent to jail for minor offences by the district court.
Simon Harris told RTÉ's This Week that support needs to be provided to district court judges about the sentencing options available to them.
"I have spoken to district court judges during my tenure in terms of the suite of options available to them," he said.
However, the minister defended plans to increase prison capacity, as a means of dealing with overcrowding.
He said increased capacity was required to modernise prison facilities, and also to recognise that people need to serve longer sentences for heinous crimes.
"I believe there are some heinous crimes for which people are not receiving long enough sentences.
"I’ve been working on a policy around minimum tariffs, which means if you do carry out a heinous crime like a murder or child sex abuse that a judge can set a minimum tariff before you can be eligible for parole," the minister said.
On the subject of garda recruitment, Minister Harris said it remains a Government commitment to recruit 1,000 gardaí by the end of the year.
However, he accepted that the numbers of recruits entering the garda training college at Templemore so far this year was below target.
The Garda Representative Association said the number of trainees is currently down 137 on where it should be at this point in the year.
Minister Harris said it was "absolutely the aim" to increase the strength of the force by 1,000 by the end of the year.
"There are already more than 400 gardaí either in training, or committed to training as a result of the intake from last November right up to today," he said.
Minister to seek agreement on body cameras
Minister Harris said he would hold a further meeting with Government colleagues this week in an effort to secure agreement for legislation around the use of body cameras and facial recognition technology by gardaí.
"What we’re talking about is how you could use facial recognition technology in retrospective situations for things like online child abuse, to help find heinous criminals quicker," he said.
The minister said facial recognition technology would not be used in live situations in conjunction with body cameras to be worn by gardaí.
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Concerns have been raised by TDs in Fianna Fáil and the Green Party about the use of facial recognition technology.
Minister Harris said he would like to see discussions with Government colleagues on the subject "conclude urgently".
On the subject of college fees, Minister Harris, who also holds the position of Minister for Higher Education, said he hopes to be able to "make more progress" on reducing fees and increasing grants for students attending third level education next year.
