I see no logical reason , why the stocks cannot be reintroduced,as a form of punishment .,it will cost less than keeping this woman in prison .
if I had been abused like this,I probably would get satisfaction from throwing shit at the perpetrator

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By Tom Brady

Monday September 25 2006
IT costs almost €¼m a year to hold a prisoner in the high-security jail at Portlaoise. The average daily prisoner population in Portlaoise, which houses mainly dissident republican activists or inmates transferred from elsewhere for security reasons, is estimated at 121.

IT costs almost €¼m a year to hold a prisoner in the high-security jail at Portlaoise.

The average daily prisoner population in Portlaoise, which houses mainly dissident republican activists or inmates transferred from elsewhere for security reasons, is estimated at 121.

Portlaoise tops the financial league for prisoners in custody because of its unique security features. At €240,700 per prisoner, the costs are way ahead of Mountjoy, which is in second place at €100,400, and St Patrick's Institution for young offenders at €90,700.

The figures are contained in the latest Irish Prison Service annual report. The cheapest running costs are at Loughan House, Blacklion, Co Cavan - an open centre, which holds an average of 74 male offenders.

The cost per prisoner is based on the average daily number of offenders in custody last year and includes actual running costs such as prison officer pay, overtime, food, light, heat and maintenance.

Rising

The average cost of keeping a prisoner in custody is estimated at €90,900, with rising wage levels mainly responsible for pushing up the figure from the previous year.

However, prison officials estimate that annual savings in excess of €20,000 per prisoner can be generated in the new prison campus at Thornton, north Dublin, when it replaces the Mountjoy complex.

Officials said the installation of state of the art security features such as electronic locking systems and extensive CCTV would enable reductions to be achieved in operating costs.

The new facilities would also allow authorities to carry out detailed security assessments of every prisoner. At present, prison designs mean that all prisoners in Mountjoy and St Patrick's are subject to similar levels of security, regardless of their offence.

Lower security levels, officials pointed out, equated to lower staffing numbers and significant financial savings.

Costs will also be reduced by locating 30pc of Ireland's prison population on a single site at Thornton with shared facilities such as healthcare, laundry, baking and catering.

Capacity

The report shows that most prisons operated at or near full capacity during the year. The average daily number of prisoners in custody was 3,151, a slight decrease of 1.5pc on the previous year but the average count of female inmates jumped by 6pc to 103.

An average of 5pc of prisoners were allowed out on temporary release, a significant decrease on the previous year.

Most of those were on a structured parole programme, often under the direct supervision of the probation and welfare service, while others were set free for compassionate reasons such as ill health or death in the family.

There were three jail escapes in 2005, all from the Dochas Centre for female offenders in Mountjoy. Another six offenders escaped from the custody of prison officers while either attending court or receiving medical treatment.

A total of 81 prisoners absconded from an open centre or while on accompanied outings with an officer, a prison chaplain or other support services. Forty-nine of those were returned to custody by the end of the year.

- Tom Brady