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RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
Deportation of 35 Nigerian asylum seekers cost €500,000
New figures show the cost of deporting 35 Nigerian asylum seekers earlier this month was half-a-million euro, when prison detention costs are added. When 35 Nigerian asylum seekers - 21 adult men, 9 adult women and 5 children - were deported on 4 June last the Ministers at the Department of Justice said the operation cost €324,714. That figure was for the provision of the operation's flights. When prison costs are taken into account, the bill rises to over half-a-million euro. The Department confirmed to RTÉ's News at One that the figure of €325,000 was for flights and it did not include prison costs associated with holding 28 of the Nigerian deportees for an average of 27 days each. This means 756 prison days were used to accommodate the 28 detainees - 21 adult men and 7 adult women. Calculations based on Department of Justice figures show those costs could have amounted to €205,201. The Department confirmed to Morning Ireland the average cost of holding a prison in jail is nearly €99,072 each year. When that amount is divided by 365 days, the average cost amounts to €271.43 per day to house a prisoner. A more conservative estimate from Irish Penal Reform Trust figures would put the amount to hold the 28 Nigerians for an average of 27 days each at just over €173,000. Irish Penal Reform Trust figures from 2023 estimated the average cost to house a prison is €230 per day. The Department of Justice told RTÉ's News at One that "the cost of detention of the cohort in question" is not available. It said: "The cost of detention for the cohort in question is not available. The Irish Prison Service advise that the average annual cost of an available, staffed prison space for all prisoners during the calendar year 2024 was €99,072. This includes net expenditure incurred within the year (such as salaries, utilities/ maintenance, ICT, prison services, etc.) excluding capital expenditure on buildings, ICT and vehicle purchases." 'Prisons are not appropriate' The Irish Penal Reform Trust said prisons are not appropriate places for failed asylum seekers being deported from Ireland. "Prisons are not the appropriate place for them to be detained - especially if they are sharing spaces with people who have been convicted when they are not convicted themselves," said the Saoirse Brady, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust. Ms Brady also said sending refugee detainees in Irish prisons was putting pressure on a service where prisoners sleep on mattresses beside toilets. Gabriel Keaveney, Deputy General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association said having additional people sent to Irish prisons adds to the existing overcrowding crisis. Prison service figures showed 5,415 prisoners were in custody on Monday. The bed capacity is 4,665 - that means its operating at 117% capacity - in all of the prisons. 422 prisoners were on mattresses on floors. 585 were on temporary release. The Department of Justice said in a statement: "The majority of those detained were held in Cloverhill Remand Prison or Mountjoy Female Prison (Dóchas Centre) as appropriate. Other places of detention have been Cork Prison, Limerick Prison and Midlands Prison." It added: "The Minister is committed to ensuring that Ireland's immigration system is robust and rules based. The enforcement aspects of our laws, including deportation orders, are an essential requirement for the system to work effectively and to ensure that the public has confidence in the application of our legislation in this area." Charter flight contract Charter flight services to deport people from Ireland are provided by Air Partner Ltd under a contract entered into in November 2024. This contract, the Department said, was signed following a competitive and open procurement process and the costs for the provision of the aircraft for these operations has been: €102,476 for a one-way flight to Georgia in February; €103,751 for a one-way flight to Georgia in May and €324,714 for a return flight to Nigeria in June. Costs for the provision of supporting charter services such as ground handling services, on-board paramedics and flight manager have been €46,352 so far in 2025. The department added: "The potential value of this contract is €5m over the lifespan of the contract. The term of the contract is 3 years with a possibility to extend it twice by one year, a potential lifespan of 5 years in total. The total expenditure under the contract with Air Partner will be based on the number of Charter Flights provided, the frequency of which will be determined by the operational needs of the State." "So far in 2025, 106 people have been removed on charter deportation flights and 54 deportation orders have been enforced on commercial flights. The majority of these cases have involved periods of detention prior to departure. Any children removed were part of family groups and were not detained. Additionally, 23 people subject to deportation orders are confirmed to have left Ireland unescorted so far in 2025," the statement added. A person who is the subject of a deportation order may be held in detention for up to 56 days for the purpose of ensuring their deportation from the State. An application to extend this period of detention must be made to the District Court.
RTÉ News
24-04-2025
- RTÉ News
Prison overcrowding 'extremely concerning', says Irish Penal Reform Trust
The prison population across Ireland now exceeds 5,000 in a system with bed capacity for over 4,600, leaving the Prison Service operating at 14% over capacity. The Irish Penal Reform Trust has warned that overcrowding has been persistent since 2023 and has led to unacceptable, degrading and dehumanising conditions in some prisons. Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Executive Director of the Trust Saoirse Brady said: "We have seen a steady increase in the number of people in prison since the end of 2023, hitting a peak last summer. "We see certain prisons extremely overcrowded." "This is extremely concerning," she said. The highest level of overcrowding is at Limerick's Women's prison, which is 48% over capacity. Eighty three women are in custody there, but the prison has just 56 beds. The male prison is also overcrowded at 28% over capacity, meaning 398 men are in custody, but there are just 311 beds. "That means that there are people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, that there are four to a cell, that is all increasing tensions and ensuring people are living in inhumane and degrading conditions," Ms Brady said. The Prison Officers Association also said the situation has been extremely difficult for their members and has exacerbated a drug problem in some prisons. "Members have to manage this on a daily basis. Imagine an area that is supposed to be for 50 prisoners, and there is 100 there, you can imagine the challenges," said Deputy General Secretary of the association Gabriel Keaveney. The association said that the current figures are now beyond the point where they can safely operate. "We also have a massive problem now with drugs, because prisoners are in the exercise yard when they should be in workshops, and that is one of the methods used to drop drugs into the yards by drone," he said. In a statement, the Prison Service said that where numbers committed to prison exceed capacity, they make every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and structured Temporary Release. "Decisions in relation to temporary release are considered on a case-by-case basis and the safety of the public is paramount when those decisions are made," it said. The Prison Service said their capital budget for 2025 is €53m, up €22.5m on the original 2024 allocation, which is focused on bringing additional spaces into the system. The Government has made significant capital funding available to the Irish Prison Service to enhance the existing prison infrastructure and provide additional capacity. In recent years, capacity across the prison estate has been increased by in excess of 300 additional spaces. "The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with the Department of Justice to progress plans to bring on stream accommodation to support the target of 1,500 additional prison places as set out under Programme for Government," it said. The Department of Justice said the Programme for Government also commits to legislation extending the use of community sanctions and the roll out of the voluntary restorative justice programme. "The Programme for Government also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of offender, and work is underway to achieve this with the commencement of a project to examine how electronic monitoring can be brought into use in line with existing legislative provisions," it said.
