Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers
Year
Number of Persons
2011* 6,725
*The 2011 figures are provisional pending the publication of the Irish Prison Service Annual Report.
I can advise the Deputy that the number of such persons held in custody at any one time is a
tiny fraction of the overall prisoner population. To illustrate this point, on 13 February, 2012
there were 22 persons or 0.5 percent of the numbers in prison custody that fell into this
category.
The Deputy may also wish to note that the Fines Act 2010 includes a number of provisions
designed to minimise the level of fine default and where it does occur, to ensure, as far as
possible, that fine defaulters are not committed to prison. In particular, under Section 14 of
the Act, the court must consider the financial circumstances of the person before the amount
of the fine is determined. There are also provisions in the Act, that I intend to commence in
2012, allowing for the payment of fines by instalments; the appointment of receivers to recover
outstanding fines (or property to the value of those fines); and the substitution of community
service orders for fines, where they remain unpaid after the receiver has completed his or
her work.
I am also committed to pursuing alternatives to custody. The Criminal Justice (Community
Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 commenced on 1 October last and requires judges when
considering imposing a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or less to first consider the
appropriateness of community service as an alternative to imprisonment. I expect that these
measures, taken together, will all but eliminate the need to commit persons to prison for nonpayment
of fines.
Irish Prison Service
477. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount it costs
the Exchequer on annual basis for a person to remain in prison for a full year; and if he will
make a statement on the matter. [7600/12]
Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter): The Deputy may wish to note that
the average cost of an available staffed prison space is published annually in the Irish Prison
Service Annual Report. The most recent figures are contained in the 2010 Annual Report
which is available on the Prison Service’s website www.irishprisons.ie.
The average cost of an available staffed prison space during the calendar year 2010 was
€70,513 (€77,222 in 2009), a decrease on the 2009 cost of €6,709 or 8.7%. The decrease in
average cost is attributed to the following two factors:
• a decrease in total costs of €20.7 million,
• an increase in bed capacity of 97 from 4,106 as at 31st December 2009 to an average
bed capacity of 4,203 for 2010.
Consistent with calculations in previous years, costs which are not under the direct control of
the Irish Prison Service have been excluded. Therefore, the teachers’ salary costs are excluded
from this exercise as these costs are not provided for under the Prisons budget allocation.
Similarly, capital expenditure, including building/equipment assets and small works, is excluded
from the calculations in the interest of facilitating comparison between prison types.
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