Compensation claims by injured prison officers quadrupled in 2020

€5.6m was paid in legal costs and damages due to a lack of in-cell sanitation, including €2.5m in 2020. File picture.

The State Claims Agency (SCA) has paid out €5.6m in legal costs and damages due to a lack of in-cell sanitation in Irish prisons since 2014, according to new figures.

Meanwhile, a further €3.3m in costs and damages was paid out to complainants on the back of outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) in Irish prisons over that seven-year period, according to figures from the SCA provided to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).