Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The size of the site purchased will provide for and enable the development to be carried out in a manner which is consistent with best practice from a planning perspective. It will also facilitate the provision of an integrated prison complex with ample recreational and therapeutic facilities. In addition, in line with a recent Government decision a site will be made available for the replacement of the Central Mental Hospital but this is ultimately a matter for the Minister for Health and Children. There are no plans to dispose of any portion of the site or to provide for facilities other than those which have already been indicated.

Mountjoy Prison needs to be replaced. Conditions in Mountjoy have been severely criticised by the Council of Europe committee on the prevention of torture and other inhumane or degrading treatment. They have also been roundly condemned by the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention. Redeveloping the existing 20 acre site at Mountjoy is neither financially viable at an estimated cost of over €400 million nor practical from an operational or developmental perspective. Even if this investment was made the site would remain constrained with no scope for football fields, a running track or other rehabilitative facilities.

Building a new prison campus on a new site will open up new opportunities. The development of a greenfield site means we will have the room to develop progressive rehabilitative facilities and introduce single person cells with in-cell sanitation to end the inhumane practice of slopping out. The size of the Thornton site at 150 acres allows considerable flexibility for a campus style development with modern work practices, as well as allowing the Irish Prison Service to plan for the future taking into account the projected rise in our population. The Irish Prison Service estimates that annual savings on the costs implied by the present manning levels at Mountjoy Prison in the order of €30,000 per prisoner per annum can be generated on a new greenfield site.

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