Reports this morning that people awaiting deportation are now being arrested and detained in already dangerously overcrowded Irish prisons are deeply disturbing, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the direct and predictable result of a Justice Minister who has profoundly neglected and mismanaged both our prison system and our immigration system, and who every day appears more willing to sacrifice basic human dignity for the sake of appearing tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrish prisons are already bursting at the seams. We reached a point long ago where people were being forced to sleep on mattresses on floors – that alone should shame any government.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of relieving that pressure, the Minister is actively making it worse by choosing to detain people who are awaiting deportation \u2013 people who are not violent offenders and who do not belong in prison cells.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetention must always be necessary, proportionate, and justified – that is a fundamental principle of any justice system worthy of the name. What we are seeing now is detention being used as a performative tool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with political optics. It is about looking tough, regardless of the human cost or the damage being done to an already collapsing prison system.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the very same time, this week the Minister is ramming through the International Protection Bill, legislation that expands the State\u2019s powers in an unprecedented manner to detain those entering the country, including children – it is extraordinary that while prisons are so overcrowded that we are running out of mattresses to put on the floor, the Minister is actively introducing measures that will result in even more people being detained.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than investing in alternatives and relieving pressure on a system in crisis, he is doubling down on policies that will deepen that crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor months, the Minister has told us that prison expansion is inevitable due to population growth, but overcrowding is not an inevitability decided by demographics: it is the direct result of political choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the consequence of a government that has ignored repeated warnings, including comments from the Inspector of Prisons just weeks ago that conditions were \u2018unworthy of Ireland in 2026\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have consistently put forward evidence-based alternatives to prison that would reduce overcrowding and strengthen public safety. Those alternatives have been ignored. Instead, prison spaces are being filled for the purposes of performative cruelty \u2013 detaining people not because it makes us safer, but because it allows the Minister to project toughness.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 16th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reports this morning that people awaiting deportation are now being arrested and detained in already dangerously overcrowded Irish prisons are deeply disturbing, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon. Deputy Gannon said: \u201cThis is the direct and predictable result of a Justice Minister who has profoundly neglected and mismanaged both our prison system and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,528,411,7,805],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-immigration","category-justice","category-press-release","category-prisons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n