Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on that. We have had a fairly thorough response from Mr. Waters on the new prison project proposed for Thornton Hall. Clearly, a very large amount of money - over €50 million - was spent on the project, which never went ahead. The reason for the project in the first place was that the Department had come to the conclusion that it could not provide in-cell accommodation in Mountjoy Prison. In the meantime, over the past ten years, the in-cell accommodation has been provided. The reason for the purchase in the first place was because the Department had come to a conclusion that it could not be provided. Maybe necessity is the mother of invention. That in-cell accommodation that could have been provided decades ago had not been provided must be borne in mind. Now we have a white elephant that cost the State over €50 million. The reply from the Department is that it is now going to consider the matter and produce a report at some time, maybe in the summer. It is very unsatisfactory in terms of the quantity of the taxpayers' money that has been spent, to absolutely no purpose. The committee should reflect that in its response to the Department in relation to how it conducts its business. There may be similar activities in which it has engaged that we are not aware of. I put this down as a marker. I am sure that is what the Comptroller and Auditor General has been doing all this time anyway. Nevertheless, here is a very major project that really has been a waste of taxpayers' money. A strong reply should come from the committee on Mr. Waters' statement to us.