Mark Kelly is making the comments to the Dail Justice Committee.
The Dail’s Justice Committee is hearing damning accounts of the prison service from the chief prison inspector.
Mark Kelly says the system is one of the worst he’s seen in the past 30 years as a human rights lawyer.
Portlaoise Prison is currently operating at 134% over its capacity, while Midlands Prison, also based in Portlaoise, is at 120%.
He says conditions are ‘degrading’ and ‘inhumane’ and he’s warning the Government it can’t ‘build its way out’ of prison overcrowding:
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