Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the amount of money that was spent by his Department and by the prison service on taxi transport for prisoners in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43209/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) that details of the amount of money spent on taxi transport for prisoners is only available as far back as the year 2003. The available costs are set out in the table below:

The Irish Prison Service has used taxis for many years as a means of transporting certain prisoners on escort, mainly to court, but occasionally to hospital. In 2005, the IPS carried out research on this matter with a view to replacing taxis with official vehicles, however, in the vast majority of cases, hiring a taxi made economic sense.

In late 2005, the Prison Service Escorts Corps (PSEC) was established on an independent basis within the IPS to provide a prisoner escorting service, primarily for court escorts and inter-prison transfers. Consequently, the use and cost of taxi transport for prisoners has reduced considerably.