Fine Gael today accused the Minister for Justice of giving "well massaged" figures to the House on the issue of prison overcrowding during question time in the Dáil.
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has said that "dramatic increases" in the number of sentenced prisoners were leading to overcrowding and that temporary release had been used to reduce numbers in times of serious overcrowding.
Addressing the House, Dermot Ahern said that as of September 17th, there were 3,947 permanent spaces available in the prison system, with 3,904 prisoners in custody on the same day, representing an occupancy level of 99 per cent.
Responding to the figures, Fine Gael justice spokesman Charles Flanagan said the Minister had "conveniently neglected" to say there were over 600 prisoners out on temporary release in a figure running three times the average for this time of year. He said Mr Ahern had failed in his duty to provide spaces in the prison system.
In response, Mr Ahern said there were currently 545 on temporary release, representing 12 to 13 per cent of the prison population. He denied "massaging" prisoner numbers and said the use of temporary release had always formed part of the prison system.
He accepted there was a problem of overcrowding in the State's prisons but said an additional 450 prison spaces were to come on stream by the end of the year.
The Minister also said he welcomed Law Reform Commission report calling for an end to of imprisonment for debt. "I want to get to a situation where no one is in prison for debts or not paying fines."
Mr Ahern said "new and imaginative" ways were being investigated to collect fines and give judiciary better options for community and probationary service, so that "all options are used" before jailing those people for not paying fines.
Later, there were animated exchanges between the Minister and Pat Rabbitte when the former Labour leader questioned how many referrals had been made to the Special Criminal Court since the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill in July.
Mr Rabbitte accused Mr Ahern of a "political stunt" in leading victims of crime to believe that gang bosses would be sent to jail if the legislation was passed - rather than assessing the Bill in committee stage over the summer.
However, the Minister he was "astounded" at the ignorance of Mr Rabbitte's knowledge of how a court action prepared. "You must be doing it tongue in cheek. Within a month or two of passing legislation, it is totally unreasonable to expect gardaí to have a file before the DPP," he told the Labour frontbencher.
"I believe that this Oireachtas did this State good service by passing this legislation . . . I find Deputy Rabbitte's actions ironic. He is asking questions with his tongue firmly in his cheek."
