Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

The Green Party welcomes the Bill. It is vital that the prison population is facilitated in exercising their most fundamental democratic entitlement. However, this is just one of the many steps needed to bring Ireland in line with the accepted European human rights norms regarding prisons, prisoners and places of detention. There is a slight irony that we are simply following the legal precedent established in the UK rather than leading on the issue. The issue has been festering for many years and repeatedly we have asked the Minister to move forward on the issue.

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