Time for the Taxpayer to stop paying twice for crime
Issued : Sunday 16 August, 2009
Claire O’ Regan, Labour Party Councillor in the North Inner City, has called on the Government to seriously rethink its approach towards those who commit minor offences. According to the Labour Councillor, the imprisonment of people for non payment of debt and fines, and for minor road traffic and public order offences, is an extra burden on the Irish taxpayer.
“There is so much talk at the moment about the need to cut services in order to correct the public finances. It is interesting to note that there is very little talk of cutting the huge cost to the taxpayer of imprisoning minor offenders. The imprisonment of these offenders is effectively a double whammy for the taxpayer. Victims of crime pay in the first instance, and of course, imprisonment is appropriate for perpetrators of serious crime – but the taxpayer is also asked to pay a second time – to the tune of nearly €93,000 per annum to keep minor offenders in prison. It simply doesn’t make sense” says O’Regan.
The Labour Councillor, who represents the North Inner City ward in which both Mountjoy Prison and St Patrick’s Institution are located, says that prisons have been shown to breed yet more crime and we should be looking to other models which are less costly, and aim to keep non violent, minor offenders from entering prison in the first place.
“We all know that prisons and juvenile institutions are almost training camps for criminals. Once a person, particularly a young person enters the prison system, their chances of rehabilitation decreases with the passing of every day behind bars. We need to learn from the expansion of schemes in other countries. Even the United States, the world’s biggest gaoler, can be proud of successful schemes such as the Community Service Sentence Programme in New York, and the ‘Drug Courts or ‘TIP’ - ‘Treatment Instead of Prison’ programmes.
O’Regan proposes that the Government needs to rethink the move towards prison expansion and instead support community sanctions, where appropriate, which involve payback in the community. For example, Community Service Orders can be used – a scheme through which offenders who have been assessed as appropriate are required to perform supervised, unpaid work for the community, for anything from 40 to 240 hours. The Labour Councillor says that the McCarthy report backs this up, having recommended that the graffiti removal operations project be merged under Community Service orders, a potential saving in costs of €1 million.
“We all want to enhance public safety and reduce offending levels. Many community based organisations are struggling with limited resources. Community Service Orders are a lower cost for the state, and it is the view of the Probation Service, who oversees the present Community Service Programme, that community service can add value to communities. In 2006, the average cost of a community service order stood at €1,500, and community based sanctions not only prevent the escalation in offending that can happen as a result of incarceration, but also allow communities to benefit from community based ‘payback’. So the choice is simple - €93,000 per annum where the benefit to the community is questionable, or approx €1,500 where it can make real progress. Now that would be a cut in expenditure we could be proud of”.
Cllr 
