A TD has called for a full forensic audit of expenditure within the Irish Prison Service amid what he labelled “extraordinary capital spending”.
Speaking today in the Dáil, Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn referred to the recent installation of apartment-style modular prison cells, costing €640,000 each, as well as a €25,000 sum being paid to comedy and influencer duo, The Two Johnnies, by the Irish Prison Service for a single podcast.
In January, it was revealed that the IPS was set to spend at least €16 million on 30 “modular” apartment-style cells which it said were designed to help ease prisoners back into society. They were to provide step-down accommodation for 34 inmates on the grounds of Loughlan House, Shelton Abbey and Castlerea prisons.
The units are estimated to have cost in the region of €530,000 and €600,000 each. Former Justice Minister Helen McEntee said in December that the independent living units “are suitable for people sentenced to long terms of imprisonment and who are preparing for release back into the community.”
Figures released following Freedom of Information Requests in 2024 showed that €11,541,695 had been spent on the project, or €14,196,660 including VAT. The total budget for the project for the single-occupancy units has been billed at €15.9 million including VAT.
One prisoner named as having been given one of the independent living units on the grounds of Shelton Abbey ahead of his full release is Brian Meehan, who is serving life for the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996, as reported by the Sunday World.
TD Ken O’Flynn said the spending was “extraordinary,” whilst also commenting on the 2 Johnnies being paid nearly €25,000 by the IPS to host a show on the attractions of working as a prison officer in an effort to help drive recruitment.
The sponsored podcast featured prison staff speaking about life working in an Irish jail and the benefits of the job, confirming that a fee of €20,000, plus €4,600 in VAT, was agreed with the Tipperary comedy duo for the show.
Internal emails describe how the 2 Johnnies were “very interested” in working with the prison service and offered a bespoke deal to promote careers there, RTE reported.
“Tánaiste, a few weeks back, newspapers revealed the Irish Prison Service paid almost €25,000 of taxpayers money on a single podcast to the Two Johnnies. There are also reports of other podcasters receiving payments of almost €100,000,” the Deputy said.
“At the same time, we’ve seen extraordinary capital spending of ten singular modular homes in Shelton Abbey, at the cost of €640,000 each. Additionally, at Loughan House in Cavan – €520,000 each, housing just one prisoner, on publicly owned land,” he told Tánaiste Simon Harris.
The Cork North Central TD also slammed foreign trips to “Perth, Krakow, and Kentucky” which he said involved IPS executives.
“Coincidentally, we’ve seen that senior Irish Prison Service (IPS) executives travelled to Kentucky, the very same week as the Kentucky derby. As well as Perth, Krakow, and other expensive destinations. Tánaiste, in the picture of this system, it seems to me that we do need the financial controller and auditor general to undertake a full forensic audit of these expenditures and restore accountability and public trust in the Irish prison systems. Would you agree with that, Tánaiste?”
Deputy Harris said he would specifically ask the Minister for Justice to respond to O’Flynn regarding the points made.
“I’ll ask the Minister to reflect further on the issues that you’ve highlighted. Our plans for the year ahead are to drive forward with increasing prison capacity. But I’ll take your point regarding value for money being important.”