The Animal Party has proposed sterilising around 60 cats living at the central prisons in an effort to control their population.

The party said the state was responsible for securing the necessary funding and called for the measures to be implemented immediately through cooperation between the state, the veterinary services and animal welfare organisations.

According to the party, the proposal sets out a comprehensive management model that could also serve as a blueprint for other closed or controlled areas across the Republic.

The plan includes registering and electronically identifying the cats, mapping colonies within the prisons and introducing controlled feeding rather than the unregulated distribution of food.

It also provides for veterinary checks and treatment, as well as an adoption programme.