No tender process for €100m prison facilities

FINANCIAL watchdogs expressed alarm yesterday that nearly €100m of taxpayers’ money was spent on prison facilities without being subjected to a proper tendering process.

Chairman of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Bernard Allen said he was “flabbergasted” at the way the Justice Department had handled the affair.

The PAC also heard that the annual cost of providing for asylum seekers now stands at e300m as lawyers were accused of “dragging out” the process.