9th August 2010
The IPRT's grave concerns over the increases in the prison population and use of short term sentences were the subject of an article in Friday's Irish Examiner.
The article emphasizes that while these figures are certainly alarming, they are now out of date by more than 7 months and the prison is now even more overcrowded, with 4,491 people in prison on July 29th 2010.
In light of this, now is the time for those with responsibility for penal policy to ask whether or not we are using prison in the most effective way. It clear that prison is not being used as a measure of last resort, and as a result prison has become a hugely expensive, inefficient approach to tackling crime.
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Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.