Bunk beds used to tackle prison overcrowding, says minister
He told the Dáil that "bunk beds are now being purchased and introduced and implemented" where inmates are sleeping on mattreses on the floor.
"It's extremely important that the crisis is being addressed," he said during Priority Questions.
"It is being addressed."
The minister insisted: "This it is a priority for me".
He was replying to the Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon who said that "over 350 people were reportedly sleeping on floors".
The deputy urged that "the appalling and dangerous conditions" in prisons be addressed.
"I think that, in many cases, the conditions in our prisons are nothing short of Dickensian," Mr Gannon said, and condemned overcrowding as a "serious failure of our criminal justice infrastructure".
He also warned of "a lack of awareness" in the courts of non-custodial sentencing options.
Minister O'Callaghan said that a growing population demands more prison spaces, but also promised to "present further options to courts other than simply incarcerating".
The minister said he intends to oblige courts to consider community service for sentences of two years.
Currently, they must do so for sentences of one year.
He also revealed his intention to double the maximum number of hours that can be imposed under a Community Service Order from 240 to 480, something Deputy Gannon welcomed.
However, Minister O'Callaghan also said that he would be "frank" with the deputy.
"I'm not going to go down the route that they went down in England and Wales in the past nine months," where authorities said that "they were going to release from prison very serious offenders at a very early stage".
Deputy Gannon noted that he had made no mention of such a measure, and asked why "an audit and awareness of who exactly are in our prisons" was not being conducted.
"What we have at the moment is a conveyor belt of people who, for various reasons, usually linked to addiction, go into our prisons, sleep on floors, continue that addiction, come out of prison, reoffend - because prison is traumatic."
The minister said he would "try and bring forward issues in respect of electronic monitoring... particularly in respect of remand prisoners".
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