Denis O'Donovan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)

Wherever one seeks to re-site a prison there will be a "not in my back yard" outcry. No community will welcome a prison in its area. The Minister had to grasp this nettle as soon as possible. He should be complimented on his efforts to reform the prisons, for example, he has dealt quite well with the overtime situation.

On entering the Seanad in 1989 I became spokesman on justice for several years. I had the opportunity to visit Mountjoy Prison twice, once as a member of the legal profession, and on an official visit. The appalling conditions in which prisoners are held in Mountjoy Prison were condemned in the 1970s but nothing was done about it. There has been a great deal of rhetoric in this House and elsewhere about improving the prison. Now there is an opportunity to relocate the prison to a site that will provide adequate space for exercise and accommodation and will be to some extent humane.

We all talk about the rights of prisoners and their need for proper accommodation. This is a major issue. The Minister is trying to tackle many issues in Mountjoy and in other prisons. Unfortunately, it seems to be as easy to get drugs inside of prison as outside. In a new prison environment with proper procedures and scanning of visitors there is a chance to change this. It is easy for a prisoner to bring a supply of drugs into prison with him. Any person starting a prison sentence should be isolated for seven to ten days to ensure drugs are not passed from one prisoner to another.

The people living in the neighbourhood of Thornton Hall will have certain concerns about a prison being built, but that would be the case wherever a prison was sited. The Minister has taken a brave step and the price is reasonable. If this sale does not proceed, or if planning permission is refused or the development fails for some other reason, any Government will find it impossible to acquire a site of that scale for a prison anywhere in the country.

Without condemning the work of RTE, the "Prime Time" programme was selective. It did not track the full negotiations or the independent advice given to the Minister and the selection committee since the question of buying a greenfield site for a prison was initiated. That type of selective broadcasting by our national broadcaster is regrettable because it gives a slanted view rather than the fair and balanced view to which the public is entitled.

This Minister is the first Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to realise that the conditions in Mountjoy Prison and other prisons cannot be allowed to continue. The cost of keeping a prisoner in Mountjoy Prison is in the region of €100,000 per annum. Despite that expenditure conditions there are deplorable. Someone said they are more akin to those prevailing in the 19th century than to the 21st century, a view with which I concur.

The Minister's decision to proceed with this project is welcome and brave. In a decade when the job is done and the prison is built, like other projects condemned in the past, it will be regarded as a wise move.

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