Vol. 474 No. 6
212 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Justice her views on whether a more integrated arrangement between the Garda, the prison service and medical and psychological services would be desirable as part of an effort to form profiles of potentially dangerous prisoners before dangerous situations arise in our prisons in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3803/97]
213 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Justice, following the recent disturbances at Mountjoy Prison, her views on whether prison managers face almost insurmountable difficulties due to the level of overcrowding and that, as a consequence, extra resources are required to ensure no further incidents of this nature occur in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3804/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 212 and 213 together.
It is not possible to give any guarantee that similar incidents will not recur. Disturbances and incidents of disorder are unfortunately a feature of running prisons worldwide. It would be wrong to give the impression that overcrowding caused the recent Mountjoy incident as there was no overcrowding in the part of the prison where it took place, and it would be wrong also to give the impression that prison staff had no knowledge of the background and disposition of the individuals concerned. They were held in a part of the prison generally reserved for prisoners who are known to be more difficult to manage than others.
While the difficulties which arose on this occasion cannot be put down simply to overcrowding, it is a fact that there is overcrowding in Mountjoy and throughout the prison system generally. This is being addressed by the extensive prisons building programme which is now under way. This programme will, when fully implemented, provide over 800 additional prison places.
I am satisfied that the arrangements which exist between the prison service, the Garda and the medical and psychological services are quite sound but, like all arrangements, they are capable of refinement and susceptible to ongoing review. This is happening on a continuing basis.
