Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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285. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount spent in 2017 on transferring prisoners on remand to courts for the purpose of attending for mention dates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3287/18]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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286. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times prisoners on remand were transferred to court for the purpose of attending for mention dates in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3288/18]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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287. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times the video link facility was used for remand hearings in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3289/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 285 to 287, inclusive, together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service is not in a position to provide the exact information requested. The Irish Prison Service only record if a prisoner has a court appearance but not the exact nature of that appearance.

The Irish Prison Service facilitated 29,917 court appearances during 2017. The majority of these were escorts carried out by the Prison Service to court. In certain instances An Garda Síochána will undertake the transfer of a prisoner to court.

A further 3,094 court appearances were facilitated via video link. The majority of these instances related to remand prisoners.

The cost of escorting prisoners to court is determined by staff costs and transport vehicle costs. It is influenced by the number of staff required for the escort, the duration of the escort and the distance travelled etc. therefore it is not possible to provide the amount spent on transferring prisoners to courts