Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I will deal with the questions in the order the Deputy raised them. First, regarding the number of prison spaces, it was necessary in the lifetime of my predecessor as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a major expansion of the prison service. That was due to the fact that, prior to his coming into office in 1997, there was a revolving door syndrome which was causing the prison and criminal justice systems to fall into major disrepute. That has ceased. Second, we have an expanding population, with more than 4 million people. Even though I regard prison as a remedy of last resort, I have nonetheless carefully monitored the use of prison space and I am convinced of the need to build this additional accommodation.

The Deputy also inquired as to why I did not start with Limerick, Cork and Portlaoise, and asked if I am concerned about slopping out. I toured Cork Prison and I decided that it should be demolished and a new prison for the region developed at Spike Island in Cork harbour. We are working on that at present.

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