27% fewer people have been jailed this year than before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Less than 4,500 criminals have been sent to prison this year - compared to nearly 6,200 in the same period in 2019.
347 men and 10 women are serving life sentences in prison, according to new figures.
92 of the men are over the age of 50, and seven of the women are between 40 and 50 years old.
124 Polish people are in jail, which is the highest group of non-nationals.
Former governor of Mountjoy Prison, Tipperary's John Lonergan, says he's not surprised at the reduction in the overall numbers recently:
"We were all expecting that Covid would have almost disappeared at this stage and we'd all be back to normal but they're not and as a result of that the courts are not sitting as regularly and I'm sure the whole system is not as active that it would be and people are not being remanded into custody as much and overall prison numbers are very low, and I think things are going to stay like that until things get back to normal again."
