Prison Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

I thank the Minister for his response. The figures are fairly stark. Last night, the Dóchas Centre was at 153% of its capacity and 29 women were sleeping on the floor. Can the Minister imagine what that does to a person's capacity for rehabilitation and sense of place in the world? I understand these people have committed crimes and that there are consequences to that but the consequences of placing people in these conditions go well beyond what is appropriate to the crime, impacting their families and their children. I appreciate the Minister has said that 26 extra spaces will be provided at the Dóchas Centre during his term but that same report that has not been released yet also highlighted the fact that the Garda National Immigration Bureau is showing up at overcrowded prisons to place people into them without any consultation with the prison guards. That is extraordinary and it is happening on the Minister's watch. These 26 extra spaces will not fix this. We need something far more radical and different.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19