The Prison Officers' Association has accused the Government of negligence for failing to deal with the issue of overcrowding in Irish prisons.
Delegates attending the association’s annual conference in Castlebar, Co Mayo, heard that the situation is deteriorating and is affecting the rehabilitation of prisoners.
The POA said ‘warehousing’ and ‘pressure cooker’ are terms that have been used to describe the impact of overcrowding and that even though an internal audit in 2007 showed overcrowding was a major issue nothing was done.
POA President Jim Mitchell, who works in Mountjoy Prison, said on 2 February there were 660 prisoners in the jail, which can hold 570.
Most of the 90 extra prisoners had to sleep on floors and in the waiting areas of the prison.
Mr Mitchell accused the Government of being unfair on both prisoners and prison officers and said the Minister for Justice must find a solution to overcrowding if there is to be any level of rehabilitation.
He also told the conference that criminal gangs were increasing their control inside our prison system and it is very difficult to maintain discipline within the jails.
He said criminal gangs are operating on the inside as well as on the outside, have access to mobile phones and were involved in drug smuggling and other illegal activites.
