Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 198: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the date on which the tender was put out to supply food to prisoners while in Garda custody; the name of the company that was awarded the contracts; the length of the contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25361/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Garda authorities that there is currently no general tender in place for the supply of food to persons in Garda custody. It is the responsibility of the station in which a person is detained to provide food to that person during the custody period.

I am further informed that a review of expenditure on meals for persons in custody was carried out by An Garda Síochána in late 2010. Following on from that review An Garda Síochána published a tender for such meals on the Government e-tenders website on 29 July, 2011, covering stations within the Dublin North Central Division as a pilot project. The closing date for the receipt of tenders was 20 September, 2011.

The Garda authorities have indicated that, following the conclusion of the Dublin North Central tender process, consideration will be given to going to the market in respect of the provision of meals for persons held in custody in other Garda Divisions.