A Cavan-Monaghan TD has said that the criminal justice system is facing crisis, as serious criminals are being released due to prison overcrowding.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Matt Carthy spoke in response reports that a lack of space at Oberstown resulted in two teenage offenders, who were accused of burglary while armed with machine guns, being freed.
Deputy Carthy believes that the prison overcrowding is also undermining the ability to deliver training and rehabilitation services, which is essential to cutting the rates of reoffending.
He spoke on the Joe Finnegan show about his belief that there needs to be a different approach for non-violent crimes, to keep prison places for dangerous individuals.
"Remember this, for a young person to spend a year in Oberstown, it's costing your listeners, the taxpayers of Ireland, €700,000 per one year. That's the cost of a year's stay in Oberstown Youth Detention Centre. Yes we need to spend that, as I say, on dangerous individuals who need to be locked up for their own safety and for the safety of all of our communities, but we need to ask; for some of those young people, would that money be better spent if we actually invested in addiction, mental health, youth and diversion projects that would benefit all of our society?"
