FERGUS FINLAY’S excellent column (Irish Examiner, July 4) exposing the bloated and unaccountable costs of Michael McDowell’s super-prison plan has provoked some interesting responses from officialdom.

YOUR editorial (Irish Examiner, May 6) states that privatisation of the prison escort service “purely for cost-cutting purposes is something that warrants very serious consideration.”

IN August 2004, the Irish Penal Reform Trust characterised Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s plans to build new super-prisons in Dublin and Cork as the minister’s own personal Bertie Bowl.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell claims his plan for mandatory drug testing of prisoners will end heroin use in Irish prisons (Irish Examiner, December 31).