Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Quite a lot of amendments in the Bill are progressive, particularly regarding bankruptcy, which shows how our society has changed, in addition to nationality, citizenship, international protection, immigration, legal services and the Judicial Council. A whole fillet of additions are part of this Bill. They are all very progressive and welcome.

I support the comments of my colleagues, Senators Keogan, Wilson and Conway. We saw the news from the POA this morning on overcrowding. We have heard the stories from Mountjoy Prison of 16 inmates sleeping on mattresses. This is a constant feed. As we know, prisons are oversubscribed at present and, with the new judges who are coming in, we will probably have more custodial sentences. That will be the logical outcome.

I also welcome what Senators Wilson, Keogan and Conway said about the proposed prison in the Minister of State's constituency. It was a good and worthwhile project at the time. The financial downturn came and it did not happen but the time is now right. We certainly have the money and it is something well worth looking at. We are talking about approximately 400 prison spaces over five years, which would be an immediate reaction to the problem we have. I thank the Acting Chairperson and the Minister of State.