There continues to be a rise in the number of prisoners being committed to custody.

According to the annual report for 2011 of the Prison Service almost 14,000 people were sent to jail last year.

That is 194 more when compared to 2010.

Of those 86% were male and 14% were female.

The average cost of keeping a person in prison last year was over €65,300.

This represents a decrease of over €5,000 compared to the previous year.

The Irish Prison Service says the reason for the decrease is because of  reduced expenditure and an increase in the provision of bed capacity.