Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister's comment that there are no persons in prison today for the non-payment of debts. How many deportees are currently in prison?

Has the Minister given any consideration to the report of the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention, Judge Michael Reilly, which paints a most grim and bleak picture of our prisons? In the course of his report, Judge Reilly refers to the fact that the extent of overcrowding in our prisons is far worse than the indication provided by the prison authorities. Has the Minister considered providing a response to Judge Reilly's quite damning report? Would it be possible to make time available so that the House might give consideration to the comments of Judge Reilly, who has, in an unprecedented way, painted a rather shocking picture of Irish prisons in 2009? The report to which I refer will surely spur the Minister into taking the long-promised action of replacing Mountjoy Prison and other Dickensian institutions.

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