Eighteen prison officers were treated in hospital this morning after a disturbance at Mountjoy Jail in Dublin.
At around 9.45 a.m. an argument between three prisoners and an officer led to back-up being called and the prisoners being briefly confined to their cell.
When the cell was reopened one of the prisoners head-butted an officer. Other prisoners who were out of their cells threw the contents of their chamber pots at officers arriving on the landing of B Wing to deal with the disturbance. A flask of boiling water was thrown at officers on the floor below.
A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "The officers acted professionally in dealing with the situation and the matter is now in the hands of the governor."
Three officers were taken to hospital with cuts and bruises following the incident. Other officers were also treated for contamination as a precautionary measure.
Labour Party spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello said the chance of such incidents recurring are "increasingly likely" because of the "appalling conditions in Mountjoy".
Mr Costello made particular reference to today's disturbance involving the contents of chamber pots being flung at officers. "It is simply not acceptable that at the beginning of the 21st century, prisoners should still be asked to go through the unhygienic and degrading practice of 'slopping out," he said.
He criticised the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, over his recent comments about prison reform and called for action on the Inspector of Prison's recent recommendation that Mountjoy be significantly upgraded or closed and a new facility built elsewhere.