The National Catholic Prison Chaplains have challenged the Ministers for Justice and Health to visit Mountjoy Prison to witness the "degrading and unsanitary conditions" male prisoners live in.
Father Declan Blake, spokesman for the chaplains' organisation and chaplain at Mountjoy, said that a lack of hygiene and proper sanitation in the prison meant that prisoners and staff were at constant risk of disease and injury.
"The 460 prisoners slop out at the beginning of each day. So many of them are chronic drug-users that they are afraid to use the toilets on the landings during the day, in case they catch hepatitis, because they [the toilets\] are so filthy," he said.
The men's prison had not been refurbished "since early last century at least", Father Blake said. There was no in-cell sanitation, showers were housed in a separate building and prisoners were allowed a shower and change of clothes only once a week. Vermin such as mice and cockroaches were present throughout the prison, he said.
Father Blake said that he was calling on the Minister for Health as well as the Minister for Justice to visit the prison because the place was clearly a health hazard.
"Most of the prisoners contract scabies or other skin diseases at some stage, as well as more serious illnesses such as hepatitis. The conditions are inhumane and a danger not only to the prisoners, but the prison officers who work there."
The prisoners and staff did their best to keep the place clean, he added, but they were fighting a losing battle because of the state of the building.
In a letter to The Irish Times, Father Blake welcomed a recent visit by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, and he invited him to Mountjoy along with the Minister for Justice.
A spokeswoman for Mr Martin said last night that it would be inappropriate for the Minister to visit Mountjoy because it was the responsibility of the Minister for Justice.
Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said that he intended to improve prison sanitation conditions.
"I have no hesitation in saying I found slopping out by prisoners, many of whom are occupying cells on a multiple basis, degrading. I am doing my best to ensure that, instead of waiting for some ultimate reform of the entire structure of our prisons over a period, every possible step is taken as a matter of urgency to introduce in-cell sanitation."
In a statement last night, the Department of Justice said that Mr McDowell previously visited Mountjoy Prison in his capacity as Attorney General. Since becoming Minister for Justice, he had visited a number of prisons, including Portlaoise, Cloverhill and Wheatfield.
