EU rulings could lead to privatising Irish prisons

EUROPEAN UNION recommendations could mean Ireland having to allow for some level of privatisation within the Prison Service, an expert said yesterday.

Researcher Stephen Nathan also said he suspected Irish officials have already had discussions with companies operating private prisons abroad.

Mr Nathan’s comments follow moves by Irish authorities to consider privatising certain prison services, such as prison escorts. The Government is also considering a public-private partnership to construct a new prison to replace Dublin’s Mountjoy Jail.

Prison Service Director General Sean Aylward recently said while there were no plans to privatise prisons, he did not rule it out as an option.

Mr Nathan said the European Commission had told countries due to join the EU that they had to bring their prisons up to standard. For poorer countries where finance wasn’t available, privatisation had to be considered, he said.

Mr Nathan publishes Prison Privatisation Report International, a journal of the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich, London, and was invited here by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) to brief politicians and the media about the international experience of prison privatisation.

Mr Nathan said there was no independent research to show that privately-run prisons were more cost effective or more innovative.

Mr Nathan said he felt that the Government was flying the idea of privatisation as a weapon to beat the Prison Officers’ Association, whose members are currently voting on an overtime deal.