Shane Ross (Independent)

I endorse Senators O'Toole and Henry's comments on the issue of the prisoner killed in Mountjoy Prison. It is a matter that should be of enormous concern to us. However, I suspect it is not really a priority on the Government's list. It is a serious problem which we are failing to acknowledge. Senator Henry quite rightly said that the prison governor, Mr. Lonergan, apologised and he did so with great dignity.

There is a problem with prison visiting committees which was raised by Fine Gael Senators in a motion recently. As long as these committees include people who are politically appointed and have no interest in prisoners, the prisons will not be supervised properly. All Members know that this is a political abuse where people in different parts of the country are put on prison visiting committees simply to get travel allowances. The result is that people who are not qualified are supervising the administration of prisoners. Their only interest is collecting the expenses involved and the result is that prisoners and prison staff suffer. If there is any lesson from yesterday's incident, it is that the prison visiting committees issue should be tackled honestly.