Fine Gael frontbench spokesman Mr Jim Higgins has called for the scrapping of the prison-building programme, accusing the Minister for Justice of going on an "incarceration binge" rather than looking at alternatives to jail.
Mr Higgins, public enterprise spokesman but justice spokesman until recently, said yesterday there were more than enough prison spaces. "Prison should be reserved for those convicted of violent crimes against property or the person," he said.
Prisoners should leave prison having learned a skill, and grants of £200 a week should be paid for one year to employers who agreed to employ such ex-prisoners.
This would serve both to rehabilitate and reduce the current high recidivism rate, as well as tackle the skills shortage.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, had completed the prison-building programme set out by his predecessor, Mrs Nora Owen, and had added a further 400 spaces, said Mr Higgins.
"He has now promised a further 800 spaces at a cost of £104 million, presumably with 800 new prison officers and the associated overtime costs," he said.
This "incarceration binge" was hugely expensive, failed to rehabilitate offenders and should be stopped, he said.
Mr Higgins rejected reports that he was proposing that prisoners be given employment, telling The Irish Times his proposal related solely to ex-prisoners.
In addition, he said, Community Service Orders should be used to keep more people convicted of non-violent crime out of jail.
Mr O'Donoghue claimed Mr Higgins's suggestion "fails to address the need for proper penalties for crime. It fails to examine the importance of a proper rehabilitation process, and it fails to put in place a system to adequately address which ex-prisoners are suitable and capable of entering the workplace."
He maintained the scheme would "create a serious risk to communities throughout the country", and said Fine Gael was suggesting the Community Service Orders were suitable for all offenders.
However, Mr Higgins said Mr O'Donoghue was criticising proposals he had not made.