Staff shortages and a lack of computerisation are the reasons for no annual prisons report since 1994, according to the Minister for Justice.

Mr O'Donoghue said during Justice Questions, that the compilation and analysis of statistics had to be done manually because there was no computerised system in most prisons.

Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, said it was an "appalling admission" from the Minister that there had been no prisons report since 1994, and it was "simply not an excuse" that computerisation was not available.

"In those five years 50,000 people, 10,000 a year, went through the prisons. We do not have a clue who they are, where they came from, what they were in for or if they have been released."

Prison was seen as a crucial instrument of criminal justice and an annual report was needed with detailed information on who constituted the prison population "so that we can plan, monitor and improve the situation".

Mr O'Donoghue said "not only have thousands of prisoners passed through the prison service since 1994, but Deputy Nora Owen passed through the Department of Justice also".

Labour's deputy leader, Mr Brendan Howlin, said: "The Minister is there 2 1/2 years now."

Mr O'Donoghue pointed out that the information sought had been published piece by piece and that each prison visiting committee made its own report available.

He said a new £6 million information technology programme for the prison service was well advanced and a comprehensive prisoner records database would be deployed across the prison service in 2000, the first year in which full statistics would be available from computers.

The Department was making a substantial investment in information technology for the prison service and the cornerstone of that programme was a new comprehensive prisoner record system.