Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I refer the Deputy to the answer to his Question No. 522 of 4 December 2007 where it was stated that there are no plans to implement any mechanism whereby prisoners would be expected to contribute to the overall cost of their imprisonment. There would be major practical difficulties and costs associated with trying to recover money from individuals who frequently have no visible assets or means of support. There are also a number of policy issues, for example, if prisoners have funds available to them, should claims by the Irish Prison Service compete with claims for damages by victims or the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau?

It is only fair to point out, however, that section 37 of the Prisons Act 2007 provides an appropriate statutory basis for a number of provisions in the prison rules of 2007 which allow a prison governor to charge for access to certain services over and above the standard provision to all prisoners, such as use of the video link, telephone calls and access to materials relating to current affairs such as newspapers, magazines and so on, not related to their imprisonment. The Act also allows for charges to be made to prisoners for goods or services that are not generally available or are not available on an unlimited basis. These include access to electronic devices, private medical treatment or escorts provided outside the prison for matters not related to their imprisonment.

See this speech in context