Mary Henry (Independent)

As a patron of the Irish Penal Reform Trust I was concerned about the refusal to allow Amnesty International into the prisons, particularly when the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform indicated in an interview that it was because there were other people with clipboards going around the prisons. They could have been told to take their time. In view of that and the recent protests by prisoners in Mountjoy Prison against changes in visiting rights, could we hold a debate on the Prison Service and its value? We could discuss the recidivism rate which is, apparently, the highest in Europe. There is also a high number of mentally ill people in the prisons.