Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

It is even further from west Cork but, thankfully, we are very civilised in west Cork. It is certainly a much better option than Spike Island and proper transport facilities for relatives should solve the problem. I am broadly supportive of the proposal and am very glad the Minister saw the error of his ways in contemplating spending huge sums of money on Spike Island. My continuing reservation about the proposals for Spike Island is that it is currently closed, when it could have filled a short-term gap until the new accommodation came on stream.

I support many aspects of the Bill and will, therefore, support it on Second Stage. I take it the Minister wants to rush the Bill through the Oireachtas so we should be thankful we will not be faced with an onslaught of revisions such as were produced on Committee Stage of the Criminal Justice Bill 2006.

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