Michael McDowell, Prison plans
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has announced plans to build two new jails which will be larger than any that currently exist in the State, and will result in the imprisonment of more people than ever before.
Mr McDowell also said he will review drug trafficking legislation so as to limit judicial discretion when sentencing drug traffickers.
The minister was speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors in Cork.
He outlined plans to build a new jail for over 1,000 inmates to replace the four currently on the Mountjoy complex in Dublin.
He also wants to build an 800-inmate jail on Spike Island to replace the existing Spike and Cork jails and to build a bridge across the sea to connect the jail to the mainland.
Mr McDowell says the prison population would then increase from the present 3,300 to 4,500. The Minister for Justice also wants judges to put more people in jail by implementing the mandatory minimum sentencing policy.
He says he will review current drug trafficking legislation, specifically mitigating factors, such as a plea of guilty. Most drug dealers in these cases, he said, are caught red-handed and he did not accept that a guilty plea for commercial drug traffickers should merit a reduced sentence.
