‘Thef t and fraud’ in major jail
Whistleblower sends dossier
A DOSSIER of allegations of theft, fraud and tax evasion at Limerick Prison has been sent to the Minister for Justice.
The Irish Prison Service has confirmed that an investigation is underway into claims of ‘improper conduct’ on the back of a whistleblower’s dossier.
The high level of spending on TVs at the jail is among a litany of complaints. The Irish Prison Service confirmed that over €130,000 has been spent on providing 780 TVs in Limerick Prison over the past five years, for 250 prisoners, both male and female.
A spokesperson for the Prison Service said the volume of purchases is higher in prisons than in other facilities within the public sector, such as hospitals, due to damage caused by inmates.
The whistleblower wrote that the whole country ‘has seen what the gardaí put Garda Maurice McCabe through’ and that as a result he is not prepared to put his ‘wife or family in any position where they – and I – can be targeted by anybody in the Irish Prison Service’.
‘We are sick and tired of what is happening in Limerick Prison and we beg you for help,’ the whistleblower wrote.
The dossier has been sent to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Public Expenditure, and a number of other Government departments.
Chairman of the PAC, Fianna Fáil deputy Seán Fleming said they have received correspondence on the case, which they forwarded to the Prison Service.
Mr Fleming said they are awaiting a response and will determine their position then. He said they are ‘very concerned’ by the variety of allegations outlined in a five-page submission to them, which was printed on Irish Prison Service headed paper.
The Irish Prison Service confirmed that a total of €132,677 was spent on televisions between 2012 and 2016, with 780 TVs purchased in that period for Limerick Prison.
The highest number of TVs were purchased in 2013, with 298 televisions varying in size from 16in to 40in purchased for a total cost of €48,250.44, inclusive of VAT.
In all, over the course of five years, 325 22in TVs were purchased, 436 at 16in, nine 32in TVs, nine 40in TVs, and one 50in TV between 2012 and 2016.
Televisions are provided in all prisoners’ cells, and under the prisoner gratuity policy, a daily charge of 15% is levied on all prisoners to cover the cost of providing the in-cell television service.
This charge is deducted from an ‘incentivised regimes policy’, which provides for a differentiation of privileges between prisoners according to their level of engagement with services and behaviour.
There are currently 194 staff assigned to Limerick Prison, which has a bed capacity of 210 for males, and 28 for female prisoners. Both facilities in Limerick were operating at 100% capacity or over.
‘I saw what McCabe went through’