Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I wish to raise the issue of prison spaces. One of the commitments in the programme for Government in the area of justice was to increase the number of spaces for prisoners. I am highlighting this because I am concerned by recent commentary by members of the Prison Officers Association, who said that because of the shortage of prison spaces, many of the recreation halls and other usable spaces in our prisons are currently being used to house prisoners. Their concerns have now reached a point where the justice system might find it difficult to allocate sentences for prisoners to be kept in prison because of the shortage of spaces. Many in this Chamber and the wider community share these concerns. I would like to get an update on the record as to where we stand on the issue of prison spaces, and what are the plans to ensure that no judge feels they cannot sentence people to prison because there are no spaces to house them.