Parliamentary Question: Privatisation of Prisons

11th February 2004

289. Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the identity and details of all conferences and meetings that representatives of his Department and the Prison Service have attended at which privatisation of prisons and criminal justice services have been discussed since 1 January 2000, including the names and dates of the conference meetings and the names of the representatives. [4362/04]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):  No member of my Department or the Irish Prison Service has attended any conferences about privatisation of the prisons or the criminal justice agencies over the period in question.

As part of a general review of the prisoner transport system in Ireland, officials of the Irish Prison Service, the Courts Service and the Garda Síochána visited the United Kingdom Prison Service in early 2000 to develop a general understanding of how that service manages the prisoner escort function. However, no detailed research was undertaken into the experience of privatised prisoner transport in other jurisdictions. The group also visited Securicor at Sutton, near London, on 7 February 2000 and Group 4 at Broadway, Worcester, UK, on 8 February 2000 on an operational information gathering basis regarding prisoner transport. No further contact was made following the visits.

While my Department is aware that the private sector has become involved, in varying degrees, in a number of penal systems in Europe, detailed research has not been conducted into the privatisation of the prisons or the criminal justice agencies. It has always been my priority, and that of the Government, to run a decent prison service as a State service. However, such a service must be operated within a containable budget.