Ms Caron McCaffrey:

We have reviewed the site and identified a potential area of the site that could be available for other State development, as Ms McPhillips mentions. We have engaged with the Office of Public Works and the Land Development Agency on the potential for the site. I am very concerned about retaining a portion of the site. It is over 40 acres and needs to be retained for future prison buildings. I mentioned earlier that prison numbers have been increasing and in 2019 we saw a 10% increase in the numbers of people in custody.

Before the pandemic our prisons were full, I regret to say, and unfortunately we were accommodating prisoners on mattresses on a floor. Much work has been done in the Department in examining alternatives to custody, particularly with people serving short-term sentences. Over 70% of people coming to custody in 2019 came for less than 12 months. I know Deputies have mentioned Cloverhill Prison and depending on our capital budget in future, I would not rule out the potential of either a closed prison or a different type of accommodation model.