Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome the provision in the programme for Government for the construction of Thornton Hall and the additional places the Minister mentioned. The current prison population is 14% over capacity. The Irish Penal Reform Trust, IPRT, has expressed serious concern about the current situation. The Minister is doing his absolute best in that regard. I have concern about the appearance of a revolving door situation. It can be demoralising for members of An Garda Síochána who have spent a lot of time and resources investigating, prosecuting and achieving a conviction, only to find out a convict is back out on the streets quickly because the Prison Service does not have sufficient capacity. The dearth of prison places might also affect judicial discretion. Judges might be leaning towards a custodial sentence and because they see some of their customers, for want of a better word, coming before them again very quickly after they have been previously given a custodial custody, it might sway it the other way.

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