The cost of keeping a person in prison has risen to €99,000, a Dáil committee has heard.
Caron McCaffrey, Director General of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this was an increase of almost 12%.
She said it costs around €256 per day to facilitate a prisoner.
Ms McCaffery said the IPS is operating at 120% of capacity with over 5,500 people in custody. The total expenditure for the service was €502 million last year.
Ms McCaffrey said 2024 saw a 9.6% increase in committals and an average prison population of just over 4,900. Numbers have continued to increase since then, she said, adding that the IPS does not have the option to refuse committals.
When asked, Ms McCaffery said the highest ever number of prisoners was recorded yesterday at 5,699. "We are working over capacity," she said.
She said significant funding has been needed to improve security, extend capacity and to modernise facilities. She said as numbers in prison continue to grow, so too does the demand for prison services.
Ms McCaffery added an average of 58.5% of prisoners participated in educational programmes last year.
