The practice of "slopping out" - prisoners' disposal of their own waste - is not medically recommended, the Director of Prison Medical Services told the High Court yesterday.
Dr Enda Dooley said he was unhappy with the practice which carried health risks. But he knew of no one contracting HIV through having urine or slops thrown over them.
He was giving evidence during a challenge by a prisoner, Marcus Brennan, to the legality of his detention in Portlaoise Prison.
Brennan (29), formerly of Roncalli Place, Carlow, who is serving a 3 1/2-year sentence imposed in 1996 on robbery charges, claims he is living in fear of contracting hepatitis B or C or other diseases as a result of "dangerous, inhumane and degrading" conditions in the prison.
Dr Dooley said prisoners have the right to refuse to give body samples to prison doctors. He said this, coupled with a prisoner's right not to disclose any communicable disease he might have, meant that any process of segregating prisoners was not absolutely reliable. The current integrationist policy was in line with international practice.
Dr Dooley said he was not aware of any outbreak or epidemic of hepatitis A, which was contractible through bad hygiene or poor food preparation, in the prison system since he was appointed in 1990.
While not condoning poor sanitary facilities, these of themselves were not conducive to the transmission of hepatitis B or C, Dr Dooley said. HIV could be communicated by the exchange of body fluids through a cut or other orifice, but could also be transmitted by needle-sharing.
Tuberculosis was contractible in overcrowded environments and in situations of poor nutrition and hygiene, he said. The State had an annual average of around 500 TB cases, while in Irish prisons the average was about one case every 18 months.
Cross-examined by Mr Rex Mackey SC, for Brennan, Dr Dooley said he would be the first to concede that prison was not a healthy environment. Over crowding was contra-therapeutic.
He agreed prisoners were sometimes not examined before being discharged or transferred to another prison but this was due to the nature of transfers and discharges at very short notice.
He agreed with Mr Mackey that in a situation where a layman was "shoved in" with a group of people with communicable diseases, this could give rise to apprehension on the part of that person. It was also understandable that such a person might be apprehensive if he shared accommodation with prisoners using intravenous needles.
The hearing continues today.