10 prisoners are presently in solitary confinement in Ireland, UN hear

The head of the Irish Prison Service has defended how Ireland treats its prisoners.

Michael Donnellan was appearing before a UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva where the committee raised concerns about solitary confinement in Irish prisons.

Mr Donnellan revealed the numbers in solitary confinement have been declining in the past month.

"We are really pleased to see ... that the numbers have dropped to 10 this month. 10 is still to high. The governors of these three prisons where these incidents happened prepare reports for me and they give them to me on a case by case basis as to why this has happened.

"Some are for medical reasons, some for health and one was on a dirty protest."