Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I agree that the governor of Mountjoy Prison, Mr. Whelan, has done an extraordinary job in a very short time. He has transformed the facility and put in place effective measures to reduce the amount of drugs and mobile telephones getting into the prison. He has made a very substantial difference and it is right that we acknowledge it.

The Thornton Hall project is not dead. I greatly regret that having spent a very large sum of money, in excess of €30 million, on the acquisition of lands for the prison in 2006, the previous Government, when it was flaithiúlach with money, did not use some of it to progress the project. It attempted to put in place a public private partnership but was not successful. We now find ourselves in a position of very limited funding.

The Government has accepted in principle the recommendations of the Thornton Hall review group that a new prison should ultimately be built at that site. I should also mention Kilworth Prison in Cork, about which I have substantial concerns in regard to its capacity. That is not to take away from the governor of that facility, who is also doing an extraordinary job. When we get to the autumn of next year and examine what capital is available in real terms to the Department for 2013, I hope we will have an opportunity at least to progress either the Kilworth or the Mountjoy project. The fact that we are now able to provide in-cell sanitation at Mountjoy is relieving some of the pressures, something which was considered impossible a few years ago. It may be that providing a facility to replace that at Kilworth will have a greater priority than addressing Thornton Hall. However, on a policy level, we are committed to both projects. Progress simply depends on whether the necessary funding is available.

See this speech in context