Fr. Gerry McFlynn:

It is a British problem related to the prison service. The system in England and Wales is undergoing enormous change, and there are more changes to take place in the next 12 months in the prison system in England and Wales than have taken place in the past 15 years. The first part relates to the configuration of prisons, as many smaller prisons are being closed, larger prisons are being built and there is also the business of privatising the prison sector. That means there will be the equivalent to American "Titan" prisons, which are large enough to accommodate 1,500 or 2,000 prisoners. The prisoners are being moved further from home and kept in prisons where they will be just a number rather than a person. Many of the prisons will be run by the private sector. It is no accident that the three largest prisons currently in England and Wales are in the private sector. That is the way the sector is going.

This is a British problem so perhaps we should not be discussing it here. It is nonetheless having a serious impact on Irish prisoners, the same as everybody else. With regard to the seriousness of the offences, there are 5,800 prisoners currently on IPP sentences in England and Wales. It is a British problem and they are having to deal with it as best they can, although it seems they are not able to deal with it very well. This is not helped by the fact that the privatisation of prisons is continuing apace and their configuration is changing as well. The cutbacks in legal aid will also affect people, as will the outsourcing of the probation service to the private sector. The prison system in England and Wales is now a business, with the emphasis on making money.