Topics / Prison Service

A subject heading for parliamentary questions

Prison Service

493 questions from 78 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.

493
questions
486 written, 7 oral
78
TDs have asked
10
parties and groups
Independents counted together
7
departments asked

Questions per month

The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.

Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
MonthQuestions
January 20259
February 202527
March 202514
April 202523
May 202523
June 202525
July 202551
August 20250
September 202546
October 202525
November 202531
December 202524
January 202637
February 202619
March 202618
April 202616
May 202665
June 202611
July 202612
August 20260
September 20268
October 20269

Who asks, by party

The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.

  • Aontú33 from 2 TDs · 2 seats today
  • Fianna Fáil63 from 20 TDs · 48 seats today
  • Fine Gael102 from 14 TDs · 38 seats today
  • Green Party4 from 1 TD · 1 seat today
  • Independent14 from 5 TDs · 15 seats today
  • Independent Ireland71 from 1 TD · 4 seats today
  • Labour Party34 from 8 TDs · 11 seats today
  • People Before Profit-Solidarity4 from 2 TDs · 3 seats today
  • Sinn Féin114 from 20 TDs · 39 seats today

The TDs who asked most

Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.

  1. 77
  2. 71
  3. 44
  4. 35
  5. 24
  6. 21
  7. 17
  8. 14

Asked of

Debated under the same heading

Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.

The questions

Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
835. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average annual cost of housing an inmate in an Irish prison for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39977/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
836. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average annual cost of housing an inmate in an Irish prison for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39978/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
837. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average annual cost of housing an inmate in an Irish prison for 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39979/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
838. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average annual cost of housing an inmate in an Irish prison for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39980/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
839. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average cost of housing an inmate in an Irish prison, broken down by category including the costs related to food, transport, staffing, education, utilities, accommodation and any other significant costing. [39981/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
840. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any initiative that seeks to target recidivism within the prison system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39986/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
841. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any initiative that seeks to target recidivism for former prisoners at a community level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39987/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
842. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis carried out into rates of recidivism for former prisoners of the Irish Prison System; the way in which this is categorised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39988/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
843. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the net change in total prison population, broken down by prison in each of the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39989/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
844. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the prisoner to staff ratio within the Irish Prison Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39990/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
845. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the prisoner to staff ratio within the Irish Prison Service, broken down by prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39991/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
846. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners; if statistics are available into the level of reoffending within six months, one year, three years and five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39998/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
847. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis into the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners; if there has been any marked change in the levels of reoffending within the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39999/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
848. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any analysis into the recidivism rate for Irish prisoners, specifically a comparative analysis into reoffending rates for those former prisoners that participate in rehabilitation programmes compared to those that do not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40000/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
849. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding how Ireland's imprisonment rate per 100,000 population compares to other EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40001/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
850. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the way in which Ireland's imprisonment rate per 100,000 population compares to the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40002/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
851. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any assessment carried out into the benefits of investing in rehabilitation programmes for prisoners in the Irish prison system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40003/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
852. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if any comparative analysis is carried out to compare the way In which other countries approach recidivism rates for prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40004/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
853. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding any review has been carried out into the Nordic Model for the prison system that puts significant focus on rehabilitation and reintegration into society; if any lessons can be learned for an Irish context; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40005/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
854. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the total number of prisoners that participate in rehabilitation and education programmes within the Irish prison system, broken down as a percentage of the total prison population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40006/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
855. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his views on whether overcrowding has any impact on access to rehabilitation programmes within the Irish prison system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40007/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
856. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total cost of funding rehabilitation programmes within the Irish Prison System for 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40010/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
857. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total cost of funding rehabilitation programmes within the Irish Prison System for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40011/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
858. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total cost of funding rehabilitation programmes within the Irish Prison System for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40012/26]
Barry Ward Written 26 May 2026 · to Justice
859. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total cost of funding rehabilitation programmes within the Irish Prison System for 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40013/26]