Slopping out in prisons at an end

The practice of ‘slopping out’ is nearly at an end in the prison system.

With the completion of a new jail in Cork, in two month’s time, only 2% of the 3,977 behind bars will have to slop out, according to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.

In a written Dáil reply to Sinn Féin’s Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, she said that when the new Cork prison is completed in February, slopping out will only exist in the ‘A’ wing of Limerick prison — which houses on average 50 prisoners — and in ‘E’ block at Portaloise, which houses 34 prisoners.