A SUGGESTION that part of the State's prison system be privatised was made by a Fine Gael TD, Mr Charles Flanagan, yesterday. He criticised the "knee jerk" call for more prison places, which offered little in terms of a solution to the criminal justice problem.
Mr Flanagan, chairman of the Dail Committee on Legislation and Security, said "While I accept that some prison places are required, it must be acknowledged that the current cost per cell is approximately £220,000 along with significant annual running and maintenance costs.
With appropriate reform of prison organisation under an independent prison board, along with a separate parole board, and with the extension of the role of the Ombudsman, I suggest that positive and active consideration be given towards privatising part of our prison regime," said Mr Flanagan.
He said criminal justice should not be designed merely to contain a problem, rather it must at all times have a clear objective of seeking a solution.
He said millions of pounds were being spent on bricks and mortar without reforming the system. Prisons, as presently operated, were institutions for recycling criminals.
This year £550 million was being spent on the criminal justice system, £110 million of which was required to operate the prisons and penal system. He said there were plenty of prisons in the United States, but the crime rate was increasing. In the US, 1.1 million people were in prison, nearly one in 200 of the population, yet it had one of the highest crime rates in the world.
In Britain there were 52,000 people in prison the highest per capita in Europe yet crime was on the increase there.