The High Court has reserved judgment on a challenge by a prisoner to the legality of his detention under "inhumane, degrading and dangerous" conditions in Portlaoise Prison.
Marcus Brennan claims to be living in fear of contracting diseases such as hepatitis B or C, and has applied for his release.
Closing legal submissions have been made in the application, and Mr Justice Budd has reserved judgment.
During the hearing Brennan claimed he shares a cell with a prisoner suffering from hepatitis B or C and is required to suffer inhumane, degrading and dangerous conditions "surrounded by people who are carrying within their systems AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases".
Brennan (29), formerly of Roncalla Place, Carlow, is serving a 3 1/2-year sentence after he pleaded guilty in June 1996 to a charge of robbery.
He claims he is not lawfully in the custody of the governor of Portlaoise Prison because the governor has failed to vindicate his constitutional rights, failed to guarantee his fundamental rights as a prisoner as guaranteed by Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and failed to comply with his duties under prison rules.
Mr Brennan claimed he was not medically examined either before or after his transfer to Portlaoise, and his status as a non-drug-taker was not ascertained.
He was shocked to find many prisoners in Portlaoise using syringes to inject heroin. He had also read an article claiming that certain forms of hepatitis could be transmitted through the air.
Mr William Donoghue, governor of Portlaoise Prison, denied that Brennan's life and health had been exposed to danger. He claimed Mr Brennan was medically examined on the day after his arrival at Portlaoise and his drug-free history noted.
The governor said there were prisoners with hepatitis in Portlaoise, but others were instructed in how to avoid contracting the disease from those infected. There was also an AIDS awareness film available to prisoners.
Mr Donoghue said Brennan had never expressed a concern about a threat to his health or the prevailing conditions in the prison.
