The Green Party has called for the implementation of reforms in Mountjoy Prison, which were recommended by the Inspector of Prisons last year.
The call comes following the killing of Gary Douch last week in Mountjoy.
The Tallaght man was killed in a protection cell after he had been moved there because he said he feared for his safety.
The man who killed him was being housed in the protection cell because he had just been transferred from Cloverhill Prison and there were no other beds in Mountjoy for him.
On Saturday there were two further assaults at the prison and the Irish Prison Officers' Association called on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to reconsider the closure of the Curragh prison in Kildare and Spike Island in Cork.
Green Party justice spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said Mr Douch's death had as much to do with the wilful neglect of the prison system by Mr McDowell as it had with criminal behaviour.
He said the Minister had only implemented eight of the 23 recommendations on Mountjoy made by the Inspector of Prisons in 2005 and had cut back on services there.
The recommendations ranged from pest control to the provision of medical services. "The budgetary controls placed upon the management of the prison have resulted in major cutbacks in the services to prisoners such as the part closure of the workshops, the disbandment of the Connect Project in the main prison, the withdrawal of visits on Wednesdays and the curtailment of other programmes," he said.
"The Minister is also refusing to implement internationally accepted norms to provide clean needles in prison to reduce the risk of HIV infection."
Mr Cuffe criticised the proposal to build a new prison in Fingal. "This flawed proposal will exacerbate the difficulties faced by inmates, many of whom are from Dublin's inner city," he said.
"In recent years the Minister has closed Coláiste Chiarán in south Dublin, Spike Island in Cork and the Curragh prison in Kildare, increasing over-crowding throughout the prison system. This appears to have been done for reasons more to do with facing up to the Irish Prison Officers' Association than any realistic assessment of the resources."
He also called for the publication of a report from the Inspector of Prisons which was expected in July.
A spokesman for Mr McDowell said the inspector's report would be published in the next 10 days.
