Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I did not mean to or attempt to romanticise Mountjoy. I have been in the prison many times and I agree with Senator McDowell about its unsuitability and the lack of purpose for rehabilitation, notwithstanding the fact that conditions have improved in recent years. When Thornton Hall was proposed there was a very advanced plan, as the Senator knows, to demolish and reconstruct on the site. That would have been entirely different from using the existing structures of Mountjoy Prison. The view I hold is well informed and is on the basis of a lot of evidence and research. I am sure we all agree that we should be moving towards less reliance on prison.