Vol. 420 No. 3
76 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice if he will outline the average time spent in prison in each of the last five years by persons awaiting trial on a criminal charge who are either refused bail or did not avail of bail; and the average weekly cost to the State of such persons imprisoned pending trial.
79 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons, in each of the years 1980 to 1991, who have been held in prison awaiting trial on a criminal charge where (a) bail has been refused by the courts and (b) bail has been granted but has not been availed of.
80 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the number of juveniles in each of the years 1980 to 1991 who have been held in prison, detention or other institutions awaiting trial on a criminal charge and the numbers, in each of the aforesaid years, who have been charged with committing a criminal offence while awaiting trial on an earlier alleged offence.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 76, 79 and 80 together.
The current estimated average weekly cost to the State of keeping a person in prison is £660. The statistical information that is readily available in relation to persons committed to prisons or places of detention awaiting trial on a criminal charge is contained in the Annual Reports on Prisons and Places of Detention, copies of which are in the Oireachtas Library. The balance of the information sought by the Deputy is not readily available and its compilation would require the expenditure of staff time to an extent that could not be justified.
77 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice if he will outline the current cost to the State on a weekly basis for the imprisonment of a person convicted of a criminal offence.
The current estimated annual cost of the operation of the prison system per head of the prisoner population is approximately £34,000 on the basis of the 1992 Estimates. This corresponds to an estimated weekly cost of £660 per week.
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, as shown in the Revised Book of Estimates for 1992, deducting Appropriations-in-Aid and expenditure not connected with the running of the prisons (Probation and Welfare Service and Community Service Orders' scheme) and adding relevant costs borne on other votes (Superannuation and Teachers' salaries).
78 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons in each of the years 1980 to 1991 who have (a) been charged with committing a criminal offence while on bail awaiting trial for an earlier offence and (b) been convicted of committing a criminal offence, such offence having been committed while on bail awaiting trial for an earlier alleged offence.
The figures which are readily available relate to (1) the number of offences for which persons on bail were charged for each of the years 1983 to 1990, and (2) the number of convictions in respect of such offences for 1989 and 1990. These figures are set out in the tabular statement below.
|
Year |
(1) |
(2) |
|
1983 |
8,295 |
— |
|
1984 |
6,338 |
— |
|
1985 |
4,775 |
— |
|
1986 |
2,121 |
— |
|
1987 |
2,613 |
— |
|
1988 |
2,947 |
— |
|
1989 |
2,647 |
1,667 |
|
1990 |
2,494 |
1,558 |
