Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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466. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners from each county who are known to have minor children; and the number of children residing in each county known to have a parent or parents in prison. [22729/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that they do not collate information in the format requested by the Deputy.

A comprehensive interview takes place at committal stage for all prisoners entering prison. Included in the information gathered at this interview are personal details such as name, date of birth, address, gender, marital status, nationality, next of kin and family details. A new feature was introduced to the Prisoner Information Management System (PIMS) in June 2018 to record family details, including number of children and number of children under 18, on the basis of self-declared information. The Irish Prison Service does not ask prisoners to declare the age or the address of their children.

My officials in the Irish Prison Service have advised that on 29 April 2021 there were 3,788 prisoners in custody, of whom 2,068 declared that they had children. The total number of children declared was 5,150.

Finally, as the Deputy may appreciate, the Irish Prison Service does not hold information on the number of children residing in each county known to have a parent of parents in prison.