Jim O'Keeffe
Question:37 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice the average weekly cost of maintaining a person in prison; and whether she has any proposals for further non-custodial penalties for minor offences.
Written Answers. - Cost of Maintaining Prisoners.
The current estimated annual cost of the operation of the prison system per head of the prisoner population is approximately £37,000 on the basis of the 1993 Estimates. This corresponds to an estimated weekly cost of £710.
These figures do not include any element in respect of capital expenditure. They are arrived at by taking the annual gross estimate for the Prisons Vote for 1993, deducting Appropriations-in-Aid and expenditure not connected with the running of the prisons (Probation and Welfare and Community Service Orders' Scheme) and adding relevant costs borne on other votes (Superannuation and Teachers' Salaries).
I have commenced a major review of official policy in relation to the operation of prisons and the treatment of offenders generally. A wide range of options is being considered in this context including the wider development of community-based sanctions as an alternative to prison custody. I should add that as things stand, there are over one and a half times as many offenders on various custody alternatives as there are in custody and that some of those on alternatives are people who committed serious offences but who have specifically been taken out of custody on the basis of a judgment in each case that, with proper supervision, it is appropriate that they should be allowed to serve the balance of their sentences in the community.