Prisons opt out of Re-turn scheme over fears containers could be used as currency in contraband trade
Inmates are not paying deposits on bottles and cans in Irish jails due to concerns they could be used in black-market trade behind bars
Irish prisons are not participating in the Government’s deposit return scheme over concerns that inmates could use bottles and cans as currency to fuel a black-market economy behind bars.
Cash is prohibited in prisons with the intention of preventing inmates from trading contraband that has been smuggled into detention facilities from the outside.
In the absence of money, prisoners famously use other items with a set value as currency, including cigarettes. In the past, phone credit was also used for this purpose in some institutions, but this practice was ended by restricting its use to pre-authorised phone numbers.
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Under the Re-turn scheme, consumers pay a deposit of between 15 and 25 cent on bottles and cans, depending on their size. Those containers then retain that value, and this can be recouped when they are returned to a collection point.
The scheme presented a problem for prison authorities, which feared that recyclable containers could become a currency for the purchase of illicit items including drugs and mobile phones behind bars.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) told the Irish Mirror that this was a major consideration in the decision not to participate in the deposit return scheme.
The IPS therefore obtained an exemption, meaning that inmates are not charged a deposit on drinks containers purchased in tuck shops across the prison estate, and no collection point is provided, rendering bottles and cans worthless on site.
The spokesman noted that tuck shops do not receive funding from the Exchequer.
Prisoners can purchase a wide variety of items through the tuck shops, including sweets, biscuits, soft drinks, batteries, multivitamins, and tobacco. A cashless system allows inmates to buy goods using their daily allowance or money lodged to their prison bank accounts.
“The Re-turn scheme presented a bit of a headache for the IPS,” said a source in the prison service. “First, there was the financial hardship that an added deposit would impose on prisoners who typically don’t have access to much money inside.
“Then there was the logistical nightmare of how these containers would be returned, and how prisoners were going to recoup their deposits,” they added.
“But the most serious consideration was that we would be introducing something to the prison system with a set value that could be used as currency, which is absolutely unthinkable from our perspective.”
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