The Irish Prison Service abandoned a project to electronically tag prisoners after spending more than €850,000 and deciding it was neither “cost effective” nor “value for money”.
An analysis of the project found that the average cost per prisoner for the tagging was just over €12,000 per inmate over the course of 18 months.
An internal paper said when the project had first begun, it was hoped major savings could be made, especially when escorting criminals for hospital visits.
However, these savings had never materialised and despite efforts to get different prisons to sign up, jails had been slow to submit applications for its use.
Costs on the project over a six-year period averaged around €140,000, with spending in 2018 topping €220,000, according to records released under FOI.
Under the scheme, prisoners wore a tag around their ankle to monitor their movements when on release with the information relayed back to headquarters.
In an assessment, the Irish Prison Service said that over the previous 18 months, they had used the tags on 27 prisoners for an average of 40 days of monitoring each.
Those enrolled were on temporary release, a community support scheme, or the so-called JARC [Joint Agency Respond to Crime] scheme which was designed to tackle “prolific offenders”.
Some prisoners had worn the tags for more than 60 days, with others tagged for less than a fortnight, according to the records.
The analysis said: “Based on the overall usage, the average cost per prisoner monitored over the past 18 months is approximately €12,100.
“This is neither cost effective nor value for money. When the electronic monitoring project was originally initiated, it was envisaged that costs for hospital escorts would be reduced significantly – however, this has not been the case.
“Despite presentations to the Strategy and Policy Group on Electronic Monitoring for the purpose of temporary release and hospital escorts, applications have not been submitted by prisons.”
The analysis said that the technology had worked exactly as designed but that the project did not represent good value for money.
It concluded by saying: “Based on the total cost of the proposed contract and the limited use of electronic monitoring to date, I am recommending that we discontinue [its] use … and do not move to award stage with the current tender.”
The Irish Prison Service had originally said they did not hold any records analysing the cost-benefit of the scheme.
However, following an appeal to the Information Commissioner, they released a redacted version of a review document on the project.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said: “Following a competitive tender in 2014, a company was awarded the contract for the supply of electronic monitoring of prisoners for the Irish Prison Service.
“The service provider allowed for the provision of up to 50 electronic tags to the Irish Prison Service. The contract required a minimum usage of 10 tags.
“Following a review in 2020, the Irish Prison Service, in consultation with the Department of Justice, decided not to renew the contract in January 2021 for value for money reasons. The Irish Prison Service does not have any plans for the use of electronic monitoring in the future.”
READ NEXT:
- Mountjoy prisoner killed in assault had been attacked just two days earlier on different wing
- Met Eireann pinpoints arrival of 'high-pressure' system as summer returns for all but two regions
- Love Island finalists ecstatic as they're reunited with family at airport after flying home
- Dublin Airport clarify issues with 'sea of baggage' at arrivals as hundreds rage over lost luggage
- Community rocked after sudden death of 'shining light' on Bank Holiday weekend
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
