Banks should invest in deprived areas rather than concentrating on making more money for a small sector of society, the Governor of Mountjoy Prison in Dublin has said. Mr John Lonergan said too little effort was being made to address the causes of crime, and the way the benefits of a booming economy were not being shared in society.
He was speaking yesterday at St George's and St Thomas's Church in Cathal Brugha Street in Dublin, as part of a Church of Ireland lecture series.
The governor said that a survey in 1996 found that 56 per cent of people in his jail came from "six pockets" of Dublin.
"Social disadvantage is a major factor in who goes to prison," he said.
"We should reflect on the way Irish society is going today. The so-called Celtic Tiger means that those benefiting the most are the banks and the investors and the big business people. Where can you see the social conscience of the financial institutions? Where is the evidence of their concern for the less well-off in our society? What if they decided to help one of the areas from which prisoners come? What if they decided to invest in such an area as a project?"
"The financial institutions are too busy relying on technology to create more wealth for a tiny minority," he said.
The State's priority should not be to cut taxes, but to "bring the people in the poorest sector up to the tax net".
Mr Lonergan said that while the State should do more to help victims of crime, it also had a responsibility towards young people who might become offenders - to steer them away from "the wrong road" - and towards prisoners.
"Often prisoners are crying out for forgiveness," he said. "Drug addiction is just a symptom of far wider problems. A lot of people coming into prison are crying out for help which just isn't there."