Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

We have been waiting a number of months for a debate on prisons. This debate is confined to the issue of overcrowding, but I do not intend to confine my remarks to that matter. We should also be discussing the reports submitted by the Inspector of Prisons, including that on the use of special cells in Irish prisons and the one entitled, The Irish Prison Population - an examination of duties and obligations owed to prisoners. We must compliment the inspector, Judge Reilly, on the forthright and clear manner in which he has outlined his reports. When we see the work undertaken by him and his visits to various prisons both day and night, it is clear that we owe him a debt of gratitude for the excellent job he is doing which needs to be acknowledged in the Seanad.