E-tagging ‘may not resolve’ prison crisis
The IPRT yesterday gave a cautious welcome to plans by the Irish Prison Service for the electronic tagging of low-risk prisoners on temporary release.
However, IPRT executive director Liam Herrick said questions remained about how the system would operate and the purpose behind the introduction of tagging.
Mr Herrick said international experience showed the use of electronic of tagging did not guarantee a reduction in prisoner numbers. He acknowledged that electronic tagging had a role as part of a wider programme of monitoring prisoners on release but stressed it was “no substitute for probation officers”.
Mr Herrick said there were still questions over the systems in place in Ireland for assessing the suitability of prisoners for tagging, transferring and granting temporary release.
The Irish Prison Service was criticised recently over its decision to transfer a serial offender convicted of killing a garda in a car accident to an open prison at Loughan House, Blacklion, Co Cavan, from where he fled across the border into Northern Ireland.
Mr Herrick also accepted that tagging was a popular option with convicted offenders as an alternative to a term of imprisonment.
The Irish Prison Service issued a tender notice this week for the electronic tagging of prisoners using a satellite tracking system. This follows on from a pilot tagging project run in 2010.
It is understood the contract will allow for a maximum of 50 low-risk prisoners on temporary release to be tagged and monitored.
The Irish Prison Service has rejected any suggestion that the introduction of tagging is linked to budgetary cutbacks.
However, a decision has still to be taken if the monitoring of prisoners fitted with tagging devices will be carried out by the private company which successfully bids for the contract or by Irish Prison Service staff
The Irish Prison Service said the aim of the service was primarily to allow the remote monitoring of low-risk offenders who are in hospital or on temporary release.
There are currently around 950 prisoners on temporary release with 4,300 offenders incarcerated in jails around the state.
The new head of the Irish Prison Service, Michael Donnellan, has signalled that he wants to reduce the prison population, which is likely to see an expansion of the use of electronic tagging.
