Violent inmates ‘not rewarded with luxuries’

Prison Service boss Michael Donnellan has rejected criticisms from prison officers that violent inmates were being rewarded by special gardens and luxuries like fish tanks.

Mr Donnellan said that while it might be easier to inflict an “authoritarian regime” on inmates, the Irish Prison Service had a responsibility to try and reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

He was responding to comments made by the Prison Officers’ Association at their annual conference in Athlone — including in relation to what they said was a €100,000 “horticultural garden” for the most notorious of criminals in Midlands Prison.