THE PRISON population in the Republic has shown the first signs that it may be close to peaking after a decade of rapid growth.
Official Government figures show the increase in the number of people sent to prison last year slowed very significantly compared with recent years; with an increase of less than 4 per cent in 2011 compared to 31 per cent in 2009 and 16 per cent in 2010.
The slowdown in the growth of the prison population comes as crime has continued to fall since the recession started.
According to provisional figures from the Department of Justice, 11,285 people were sent to prison last year.
While this figure is a record high, the explosion in the numbers of people being sent to jail appears to be petering out.
In 2008, for example, 7,140 people were sent to prison. The following year, 2010, that jumped to 9,371 or an increase of 31 per cent.
The year after that, 2011, the number of people sent to jail increased again to 10,877, or an increase of 16 per cent.
Last year, the slowdown in the growth of the prisoner population became even more pronounced, when 11,285 people went to prison; an increase of just 3.7 per cent on the previous year.
While the exact reasons for this trend are difficult to pinpoint, the slowdown in the growth of the prisoner population comes as crime rates have continued to fall since the recession began.
With less alcohol being consumed in pubs and other late night premises, alcohol related social order crime has reduced.
The drugs trade has also suffered since the recession started with arrests for possession of drugs for personal use, or possession of drugs for sale or supply down significantly.
Garda sources believe because so many young people are out of work or have seen their disposable incomes cut, the large group of recreational drug users that fuel the drugs trade have reduced their consumption of drugs or stopped taking drugs completely.
While the crime figures for all of last year have not yet been released, some recent statics show the extent to which crime is falling.
Overall 17,670 drugs offences were committed in the 12 months to the end of September 2011, a reduction of 25 per cent on the level seen in 2008 when the drugs trade peaked. Gun crime has also reduced.
In 2008, for example, 681 firearms offences were recorded here. In the 12 months to September 2011 that figure had fallen by 23 per cent; to 525 cases.
Public order crimes saw a decrease of 9 per cent in the 12 months to the end of last September.
Apart from burglaries, only two more of the CSO’s 15 crime categories witnessed an increase in the year to the end of September last.
Last year’s falls followed similar trends since 2008. In 2010, for example, headline or serious crime fell by 5 per cent.
Overall, drugs offences were down by 9 per cent to 20,002 cases. Public-order crime was down by almost 5 per cent to 54,687 cases.