The Government is being asked to make public the findings of a European anti-torture group that visited Ireland last week.
The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture spent two weeks investigating conditions for those detained in prisons, Garda stations and psychiatric institutions.
Members met with Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and director general of prisons Brian Purcell during their visit. The committee last week presented its initial findings to Irish authorities.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Irish Penal Reform Trust urged the Government to publish the findings immediately.
The committee called on the Government to tackle overcrowding in prisons and the practice of “slopping out” following its last visit in 2006.