Harris promises 620 more prison beds over next five years to address overcrowding

Simon Harris will tell the POA conference he has identified four capital projects to be progressed over the next five years at Castlerea, Cloverhill, Midlands, and Mountjoy Prisons. File picture

Justice Minister Simon Harris will today tell prison officers of plans to start building four new capital prison projects over the next five years, creating space for an additional 620 inmates.

It comes amid claims of severe levels of overcrowding in prisons across the country.