Plans by the Department of Justice to give courts the power to use electronic tags on sex offenders may not be viable as the Irish Prison Service has abandoned the use of electronic tagging because of value for money concerns.
Between 2014 and 2021 a total of €1,085,759 was spend on the electronic monitoring of 151 prisoners.
A breakdown for each year shows that each prisoner tagged between 2014 and 2018 cost an average of €4,591, compared to an average cost per prisoner of €15,197 between 2018 and 2021.
Only one tender was received the last time the prison service called for bids to provide the service and due to a number of factor including the assessment in terms of the overall value for money it was decided to not proceed in January 2021.
This comes as proposed new law the – Sex offenders Bill will give courts the power to order the tagging of sex offenders if it is approved.
The Department of Justice says a pilot scheme will be introduced to explore costs and benefits once the legislation is in place.
The Irish Penal Reform Trust says the cost of €1,085,759 to tag 151 prisoners does not represent good value for money and cautions that any approach needs to be effective in reducing reoffending.
