State hit with €5m compo bill for TB outbreak in prison

The State will have to pay the bulk of a €5m compensation payout following claims from 100 prison officers and prisoners infected by tuberculosis in a major outbreak at a prison. The State Claims Agency has revealed the payout in a letter to politicians it asked to keep hidden from the public as it is “commercially sensitive”.

In a letter to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee, seen by the Irish Examiner, agency director Ciaran Breen said there has been a significant cost to the taxpayer due to a major TB outbreak at Cloverhill prison at the start of the decade. Mr Breen said 99 prison officers, prisoners and ex-prisoners have been infected, with the State and insurers facing a €5m compensation bill to people hospitalised.