THE number of rapes and sexual assaults recorded in the Cork West Garda division have almost trebled in two decades, increasing from 21 in 2003 to 60 in 2024.
The figures from the Central Statistics Office were highlighted by Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú who also noted statistics received under Freedom of Information by the Irish Prison Service which show that as of May 31st 2025, there were 800 sexual offenders in Irish prisons costing the state almost €80m annually to house.
The figures also show that 235 sex offenders were released from Irish prisons in 2024, an increase of 34% on 2023 when just 175 sex offenders were released from Irish prisons.
Up to May 31st 2025, 103 sex offenders were released from Irish prisons.
Ní Mhurchú has raised concerns about the Irish prison system’s ability to rehabilitate sexual offenders.
The Building Better Lives treatment programme recorded just eight sex offenders participating in 2024, and just six completed the programme before it was scrapped in October of that year.
The Fianna Fail politician questioned the amount of money spent on housing sex offenders in prisons when it seems so few of them participate in rehabilitation programmes before their release.
The MEP described the figures as a wakeup call to action when ‘dealing with an epidemic of violence against women’.
The former family law barrister has called for measures to tackle dramatic rises in violence against women to include a review of sentencing for violent crimes against women, an investigation into the tenfold increases in the number of rapes and sexual assaults and more focused measures to rehabilitate sexual offenders in prison.
