Prisons inspector to get powers

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell will only give the prisons inspector Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen statutory powers after the cash crisis facing the service is resolved.

However, the minister, responding to Mr Justice Kinlen’s scathing criticism over the appalling conditions in Mountjoy Prison, said he wants the State’s most notorious prison demolished and this might already have happened had so much money not been spent on overtime.

Mr Justice Kinlen, in a report drawn up after a recent visit to the Dublin facility, also revealed his frustration at what he believes is the lack of political support for his office, claiming the Oireachtas was dragging its feet over giving him real powers and clarifying his job description. He referred to his “so-called contract” and signed off: “Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention, without statutory authority or powers.”