Opposition parties demand action over `chaotic' conditions in prisons

Government action on overcrowding in Mountjoy prison was demanded by Opposition deputies.

The deputy leader of Fine Gael, Mrs Nora Owen, asked about the proposed Prison Service Bill, adding that prison officers in Mountjoy were meeting later in the day. She asked if the Government had alerted the Army in case it was needed, given that there had been a near-riot in Portlaoise prison in recent days.

The Labour deputy leader, Mr Brendan Howlin, said the number of prisoners in Mountjoy on the previous night was more than double the recommended cap acity. Meanwhile, there were no prisoners in the two prisons recently officially opened by the Minister for Justice.

The Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, who was taking the Order of Business in the absence of the Taoiseach and Tanaiste, said the general scheme for the Prison Service Bill was expected in early 2000. He added that Mrs Owen had been in office for 2 1/2 years and she had not done much about the situation.

"The new remand prison at Clover Hill and the new women's prison at Mountjoy are expected to be operational shortly. This will alleviate overcrowding."

Mrs Owen said that, at present, 2,500 people went to prison for short periods. Why had the Government not introduced the Attachment of Earnings Bill so that people fined in the courts could have an alternative means of paying fines rather than taking up places in the prison system? The legislation would help to relieve overcrowding in Mountjoy, which currently held 782 people, more than 100 above capacity.

Dr Woods said the legislation was under discussion with the new Courts Service being established in the context of major reform in that area. At this stage, it was not possible to indicate when the Bill would be published.

Earlier, the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, sought an emergency debate on the "chaotic" conditions in the prison system, "where five suicides have occurred in the past year", and the threatened action by prison officers in Mountjoy. He was ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison.