Cork Prison numbers jump 50% since 2022

The number of people in Cork Prison has increased by more than 50% since 2022, while bed capacity has gone up by less than 3%.

The 2025 annual report published by the Irish Prison Service showed the average number in custody in Cork Prison last year was 367, while bed capacity at year-end was just 297.

The capacity has since increased slightly to 304 through the reconfiguration of communal areas into accommodation, the first new beds added since the facility opened in 2016.

Plans for a new prison alongside the current facility are in the pipeline, but there is no date yet for when a decision will be made on the first phase of works.

The number of people in custody in the prison has increased significantly year-on-year in the last five years, after almost 15 years of relative stability. There was a daily average in custody of 262 in 2022, 306 in 2023, and 335 in 2024.

The Echo calculated that the average number of people in custody in Cork Prison was 351 in the first half of last year and 384 in the second half, increasing sharply again to 410 people in custody in the first half of this year.

The prison is currently at its lowest level of occupation in years, with 338 people in custody yesterday.

The figures began to fall when solicitors working in the free legal aid sector withdrew their services, with the majority of cases since June being adjourned, meaning that figures could increase sharply when the backlog of people awaiting trial or sentencing is addressed.