Negative, miserly, punitive

THERE has been much misleading ‘spin’ around several recent initiatives in the prison system.

This applies, in particular, to the announcement by the Irish Prison Service that it is to introduce a range of ‘gratuity’ payments for those held in prison, supposedly to reward good behaviour while punishing those who are disruptive or refuse to engage with rehabilitative services.

In reality, what the prison service proposes is to significantly cut, for all prisoners, what is already a very meagre payment. But it is more punitive towards some rather than others.