Karl Dalton

Now coming back home, overcrowding in jails is a national scandal, according to the Prison Officers Association, whose annual conference takes place today.

Carl Dalton is on the line, General Secretary of the Irish Prison Officers Association.

Carl, good morning and thank you for joining us this morning.

The facts are clear for everybody to see.

The prison population has doubled over the last 26 years.

The capacity certainly hasn't.

Isn't that the bottom line?

Good morning Clare, thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk on what is the ongoing overcrowding crisis and it's at its worst point ever in the history of the state.

We've 6,000 prisoners, we're coming up on 6,000 prisoners in a system built for 3,500.

And that system isn't just being affected by the bunk beds and the people sleeping on the floors.

It's the services, it's the rehabilitation, it's the structured activity.

It impacts on every single part of prison life.

It allows the bullies and the gangs to thrive.

And prisons are now, as a result, flooded with drugs.

And it's an awful environment for our members to have to walk in.

So more dangerous and more uncomfortable for your members?

Well, drug seizures are up, phone seizures are up, drones are up and assaults on staff are up by a large amount over the last year.

Violence in the prisons is up.

Every single statistic that's negative has increased and that makes it more dangerous, more difficult and more stressful for our members.

Now, there is some expansion of accommodation in the prison service happening.