The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has said the vast majority of the 900 inmates now suing the State for having had to slop out in the country's prisons will not succeed.
He said there will be no settlements and every case will be fought.
Mr McDowell said he was speaking both as Minister for Justice and as a lawyer, and his legal advice was the courts would not find in their favour.
He said 'he would see them in court'.
He said he also believed in the case of the small number of prisoners, who might be awarded compensation, the courts would issue a garnishee order which would allow the victims of crime access to that money before the inmates.
Mr McDowell was speaking at the launch of CrimeStoppers Trust, which enables people to contact the gardaí anonymously and give information on a new confidential number.
The Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, said research has proved that the promise of anonymity has a positive impact on the number of callers.
He also said that half of all calls to CrimeStoppers concerned drugs.
