Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I will try to be rapid. I visited Cork Prison where a new procedure to replace what they used to use in the context of slopping out is being put in place. I will have a detailed letter sent to Deputy O'Brien about that issue because I am conscious of the time constraints.

On the second issue, the prisons are overcrowded. Successive Governments failed adequately to address the problem. We are doing what we can within limited resources. Providing additional places in the Dóchas Centre was not of relevance to the slopping out issue; it was responding to the issue raised about overcrowding in the centre. Additional bed facilities will be provided.

It is expected that 300 additional cells will be provided in Mountjoy Prison with in-cell sanitation during the course of 2012. Given the limited resources available to me, I cannot move as quickly as I would like to, but we will do what we can to make up for the years of neglect in the prisons. We will also ensure proper and appropriate facilities that should be available in the 21st century are ultimately made available. However, we cannot redress ten years of neglect overnight.

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