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).

The in-cell sanitation figure – which in years past would have largely stemmed from "slopping out" claims from prisons where the practice was still enforced – more than quadrupled in 2020 to €2.5m with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

€17.4m in damages and legal costs

Separately, €17.4m in damages and legal costs was paid by the SCA over the same period – €6m to prisoners and €9.2m to prison staff, with the remainder paid to civilians or relating to property damage.

The SCA handles the majority of claims against the prison service, which relate to issues with clinical care or behavioural, biological, chemical, physical, or psychological hazards.

Separately, the Irish Prison Service paid out €2.7m in compensation to prison officers in 2020 for criminal injuries inflicted upon them – more than four times the figure paid just 12 months previously.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal – a non-statutory agency under the aegis of the Department of Justice – paid the amount based on 110 claims received from personnel.

110 claims

Those 110 claims are more than double the highest number seen in any other year since 2014, when 46 such applications were made, leading to payouts totalling €978,000.

Just 38 claims were made in 2019, leading to costs of €603,000.

A number of further claims for legal fees and compensation are handled by the prison service itself each year, the department said. Typically, those claims – which can be taken by prisoners, officers, and also civilians – relate to breaches of constitutional rights, alleged unlawful detention, employment law, and allegations of assault amongst others, it said.

Some €1.9m regarding such claims – €1.1m in legal fees and €793,000 in compensation – has been paid since 2014, with the vast majority of that figure paid to prison officers.

Prisoners, meanwhile, have received €610,000 in those seven years – €333,000 in legal fees and €277,000 in compensation.

No legal fees were paid in 2020 in any category.