Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As a politician who has been in prisons on a few occasions, I have been pleasantly surprised by the compassion shown, and the relationship between the prison officer and the prison. Recently we took a trip to Cork Prison where there was an energy and determination shown by the staff. My personal reaction was that this was really good public service. I watched the body language between the prisoners as we walked around, and I would be conscious of people putting on a show for the sake of it. I believed, both from what I saw and from other experiences, that here was a group of people who were very compassionate and truly determined to get these guys back on the road. Would that be the case in the UK?