Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2025-11-19 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central I am just talking about society in general. The Deputy spoke generally about overcrowding and how it is a failure of the criminal justice system, but I am not sure it is. We need a broader analysis of the forces that are giving rise to some people ending up in prison who, perhaps, should not have ended up in prison. I refer to the whole addiction issue, the issue around drugs, drug trafficking and all of that. It is a bit more complex than just blaming the system. A societal response is required. The Minister has come up with short-to-medium-term measures to try to deal with overcrowding and get buildings built. Youth diversion programmes, alternative rehabilitative pathways and alternatives to custodial sentences are also being perused. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-11-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-11-19