Prisons minister Ingrid Coenradie has said she wants hundreds of millions of euros to solve the shortage of prison cells and will make her case during the cabinet’s spring financial negotiations.

The cash is needed because the problems facing the prison sector are “far-reaching and extremely difficult,” the junior justice minister told broadcaster NOS. There are too few prison officers and although more are being recruited, the number leaving the profession remains high, she said.

The Netherlands has closed 26 prisons over the past 10 years, but those which remain are full and “it is time to open them again,” Coenradie said.

The minister, who represents the far-right PVV, is currently under fire from party leader Geert Wilders, who has said more prisoners should be housed in multiple-occupancy cells to solve the crisis.

He has also refused to accept suggestions that prisoners be sent home two weeks early to ease the shortage of space, saying instead that he would force Coenradie out.

Since the end of last year prisoners have been sent home three days early in an effort to free up space for people convicted of serious crimes, but the situation has only worsened since then.

Coenradie told a television talk show on Tuesday evening she has no intention of backing down. Multiple-occupancy cells carry major risks, she said.