State doles out €19m to inmates

Convicted criminals have been paid almost €19m in pocket money from the State while serving time in prisons in the past five years.

Every prisoner receives a daily cash allowance, which can be used to buy discretionary items from the prison shop or saved up for use on release.

Figures obtained from the Irish Prison Service under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that under the scheme, €18,922,294 has been doled out to detainees of the State’s 14 prison institutions since 2009.