Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I remind the House that a prisoner was killed in Mountjoy Prison yesterday. I do not usually raise the issue of prison deaths, but it behoves all of us to keep a close eye on the prison service in the context of the current discussion on its future. The prisoner in question was being kept in the B wing of Mountjoy, which has traditionally been for a different type of prisoner, namely those who are serving sentences of much longer than nine months. I am aware that many changes have taken place in Mountjoy to create space for prisoners from other institutions that have been closed down. I would like the Leader to request that the Minister come to the House and explain why a prisoner with a nine month sentence was in B wing, where he would not traditionally have been placed. I seek reassurance that his being in that part of the prison had nothing whatever to do with the various rows that are going on, the transfer of prisoners and the closing of institutions. We have discussed this many times before. What is going on? Why was a man with a nine month sentence not safe in prison?