Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

At no stage did I say the situation is ideal. I accept as valid that there is a difficulty in our prisons. Clearly, if there is over 100% occupancy there is a difficulty. Since 1997 when my party came to Government we have built 1,800 spaces which stands in comparison to anything that came previously. We continue to do that. The situation in Mountjoy Prison is not as bad as people make it out to be. Ultimately, I accept the best solution is to get out of Mountjoy to the other centre in Thornton Hall but at every twist and turn, the people on the Opposition side objected to the building of Thornton Hall and tried to find every fault with it. The Deputies opposite have some culpability in regard to this.

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