Prisoners tuck in to raise €700,000 for charities

The Irish Prison Service has revealed that the tuck shops made a profit of €700,000 last year which was used to support prisoners through the Prisoner Assist Programme Fund, which facilitates hardship payments to prisoners and part-funds the Red Cross Programme and Community Return Programme.

A sample price list for a tuck shop, provided by the IPS to the Irish Independent, reveals that 20 Silk Cut Purple cost €10, compared to €10.50 in a local convenience store, while a Wispa chocolate bar is 99c, compared to the €1.09 that is charged in many shops outside jails. Tayto cheese and onion crisps cost 74c in jail, compared to prices of 79c in local shops.

Last year’s turnover was down on the €6.36m generated in sales in 2013 but the shops increased their gross profits by 5pc, from €667,673 to €699,315.

The tuck shop to generate the largest profit was at Wheatfield Prison, with €114,998 recorded. It sold €699,151 worth of goods.

In the Midlands Prison, €1.19m in sales was recorded, making it the busiest shop.

The second-busiest was at Mountjoy, where there were sales of €816,973 but only a €29,607 profit.

Three more tuck shops recorded revenues of between €500,000 and €1m: Castlerea (€541,503), Cloverhill (€678,190) and Wheatfield (€699,151).

Four others recorded profits in excess of €100,000: Wheatfield; Midlands; Limerick and Castlerea.