In the past four years, €325,000 has been spent on premium TV channels like Sky Sports in Irish prisons.
All inmates have the option for upgraded packages, with a small amount deducted from their daily pocket money.
Almost €7,000 a month was spent last year alone on giving prisoners access to tv channels.
All inmates have free-to-air television in their cells, with upgrades available for as little as 15 cent a day from their allowance.
However, rights can be withdrawn at any point by the warden of the prison for incidents of misbehaviour.
The Herald reports the Irish Prison Service has said they have found cases of self-harm and suicide have been reduced since they introduced the initiative.
Colm Keaveney, a Fianna Fáil councillor was quoted as saying, "this is an appalling amount of public money to spend in providing such a privilege that many hard-working families in the community sacrifice in order to pay their food or back-to-school bills.
"Week after week, we encounter the claim from our health service managers that they can't afford to pay for the extra staff needed to keep our hospital wards open. The cost of TV for prisoners would pay 10 full-time nurses."
The organisation wasn't able to give a breakdown of how much was spent on each channel.
