Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The Minister of State has not answered the questions. He is simply saying it reflects a definition of another enactment. It seems that if one is to define prison in the context of a piece of legislation, we must ensure the International Criminal Court legislation we are enacting has no loopholes. One of the loopholes frequently used is in defining the implications of certain sections. In the definition section, if we are going to define prison, why is it necessary to mention certain institutions rather than having one meaning for prison, namely, any institution or place of custody administered by or on behalf of the Minister, since by definition those particular institutions are moveable feasts? The Minister, Deputy McDowell, has closed three prisons in his short tenure in office. He has promised to build two new prisons in the last fortnight. Originally. it was planned to build a new prison in north Dublin and more recently one in Cork. I thought a general catch-all provision would be more secure, if one will pardon the use of that phrase, rather than defining it in this manner, which I suggest might provide the potential for loopholes in legislation. However, I will be guided by the Minister of State's view on this.

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