There’ll be very little appetite amongst the voters for a new prison, due to building and running costs. The Irish electorate couldn’t give two hoots about prisoner welfare and I suspect the majority don’t care one bit about over crowding or poor conditions.
However, the recidivism rates in Ireland were at 51%, compared to Norway at 20% who invest more in the rehabilitation of prisoners as opposed to focusing almost solely on incarceration, due to lack of appetite for funding in most countries.
Ireland has an exploding drug problem, with crack cocaine now newly rampant, and the crime figures will reflect that now, and in the coming years. We’ve a very poor quality and availability of treatment options for those who require it. We’ve an underfunded, almost non-existent mental health service structure, especially outside the towns and cities.
The prison population will continue to grow, and the only current options are more non-custodial sentences and a more generous early release system.
With poor emphasis on rehabilitation within the state institutions, we’re looking at a revolving door system for criminals who’ll continue to blight society, continue to drain more finances than they should over their lifetimes.
Is it time to call in the Norwegians as consultants for an experimental, new approach to prisons in Ireland?
We have that already to be fair. Rehabilitated prisoners are very much an exception to the general rule here. Would I be wrong in thinking that Norwegian prisons are built out on the likes of a frozen tundra?
Not sure what Thornton Hall is being used for now days, think they paid 30 million for it at the time. The vast majority of law abiding tax payer would welcome a 100-200 million spend on a new prison. The HSE wasting an extra 1.5 billion for providing a worse service than last year.
Couldn’t agree more
And what’s worrying me is that blonde dumbo this week says she’s a plan to free up prison spaces
AKA just do as they’re doing ATM
Telling judiciary to only jail criminals when they really have to,
Need more prisons
Proper sentences for aggravated burglaries,
Assault with a deadly weapon of any kind,
Mandatory 16 years for rape of a child,
Jail travellers involved in constant feuding,
And what really boils my pish is-
Dealers caught with with over 20 k of drugs getting away with sift or no sentencing,
Mandatory means mandatory ya dopey blonde bimbo!
Helen’ I get pregnant and fuck off from my ministerial duties whenever I want McEntee’