Irish inmates take a break with Lyons Tea and Toffypops, tuck shop sales from the country’s 12 prisons reveal.
A new stock management and point-of-sale system was installed in every detention facility last year at a cost of €170,565.
It allows prisoners’ spending habits to be analysed for the first time.
READ MORE: Will snow fall in Ireland this week? Met Eireann update as brutal weather warnings issued
Data from the system shows inmates spend an average of €675,997 every month in prison tuck shops on products including soft drinks, chocolate, toiletries and even games consoles.
An average of €271,318 is spent on cigarettes and tobacco every month, accounting for more than 40% of sales.
Inmates also spend an average of €28,211 a month on vaping products. These were particularly popular in the Dochas Centre for female offenders, where one in every four euro was spent on e-cigarette kits and liquids. The country’s busiest tuck shop is in the Midlands Prison, where sales of €500,814 were recorded during a period of less than four months between the beginning of last August and November 25.
Sales reports show a preference for Lyons Tea over Barry’s, with inmates purchasing 245,281 bags of Dublin-based Lyons brand compared to 159,920 of Cork-based Barry’s.
The latter was more popular in Munster, however, outselling Lyons by almost three to one in Cork Prison and beating the rival brand by a comfortable margin in Limerick. Toffypops were the most popular biscuits, with 17,028 packs sold.
The Irish Prison Service has said profits are used to support inmates through the Prisoner Assist Programme Fund, hardship payments, and other services.
READ NEXT :
Hero Irish shopkeeper 'grabbed axe and robber soon changed his mind'
Tommy Tiernan reacts to his chat with Roy Keane after leaving viewers divided
Thousands missing out on €1,000 boost due to lack of awareness of Budget changes
Man jailed for rural burglary found dead in cell just hours into prison sentence
RTE Dancing With The Stars Carl Mullan feared he'd be seen as 'joke' participant
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter