Sinn Féin TD says 'serious questions have to be asked' about early release of Alison Chawke

Vivienne Clarke

Sinn Féin justice spokesperson Matt Carthy has said that “serious questions have to be asked” about the early release from prison of Alison Chawke just four weeks into her two years and two months sentence, which had the final 14 months suspended.

However, there was “value” in this incident, Carthy told Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage.

“It shines a light on the fact that we have a prison system that is bursting at the seams. As of yesterday, the 12th of August, there were 5,639 prisoners in a prison system that has a capacity for 4,800. There were 348 mattresses on the floors of prisons, and that's important for several reasons.

“One, it means that there are people who should be in prison today who are being released to create capacity.

But secondly, it means that prisons cannot do their jobs, which is to ensure that we reduce recidivism. The recidivism rates in this state are among the worst across Europe.

“Of those people who will be released based on the latest figures that we have received, 42 per cent will re-offend within a year. For younger offenders, that figure is up to 60 percent and up to 80 per cent if you look over a period of three years.

“So we have a prison system that's not doing its job, which means we have more people who are repeating offences once they're released from prisons, which in turn puts pressure back on the prison system.

“All of this points to a dysfunction across the criminal justice system, particularly within the prison system where we have an overcrowding crisis that has actually worsened since Minister O'Callaghan has come to office and we have no real action from government to address it. And it's one of those things that is hiding in plain sight.”