The Data Protection Commissioner has paid tribute to the Irish Prison Service for its response to the accidental taping of prisoners' conversations.

Billy Hawkes says his office has been consulting with prison management offering advice on how to deal with the calls.

The calls to solicitors were recorded 'inadvertently'.

Over 2,500 calls were recorded and 81 of those were accessed by prison staff.

He says prisoners are generally aware that their calls are being recorded for security reasons.

And he says he is confident that the prison service will do everything it needs to stop the problem from recurring in future.