Prisons Act 2007

Agreement for the provision of prisoner escort services.

5.— (1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and the approval of the Government, enter into an agreement with another person (in this Act referred to as a “contractor”) for the provision by that person of prisoner escort services.

(2) An agreement to which subsection (1) applies shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall determine.

(3) The Minister may terminate an agreement under subsection (1) if the contractor fails to comply with any of the terms or conditions of the agreement concerned or contravenes a provision of this Act.

(4) In this section “prisoner escort services” means services that before the passing of this Act were normally provided by members of the Garda Síochána or prison officers in relation to—

(a) the transfer of prisoners from any place (including a prison) to a prison or from a prison to any place (including a prison),

(b) the detention in custody of prisoners in a prison in the course of their transfer from one prison to another prison,

(c) the detention in custody of prisoners in a place other than a prison, or

(d) the production of a prisoner to a court.