Ciarán Cuffe
Question:596 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the research his Department has conducted into the experience of so-called semi-privatised prisons in France; and his views on the evidence. [25416/03]
Written Answers. - Irish Prison Service.
I wish to reiterate that it is my priority, and that of the Government, to run a decent Prison Service as a State service and to do so within a containable budget. There may well, however, be circumstances in which individual supporting functions, which are now carried out by the State in respect of prisons, could be carried out by others.
My Department is aware that the private sector has become involved, in varying degrees, in a number of penal systems in Europe. However, detailed research has not been conducted into the use in France of the type of prisons referred to by the Deputy.