Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I support the call for the closure of St. Patrick's Institution. There is not a Member of this House who does not agree with that, but it has gone on and on. I notice we have already lauded the Inspector of Prisons, Mr. Justice Kinlen. Repeatedly in his reports, and again in 2005, he has called for the closure of St. Patrick's Institution. He described it in his 2005 report as "a finishing school for bullying and developing criminal skills". I cannot imagine anything more shocking than the Inspector of Prisons, a former High Court judge, whom we all acknowledge as a person of substance, describing one of the institutions in which we incarcerate young people as a finishing school for bullying and developing criminal skills. A short timeframe must be laid down for the closure of this institution.

See this speech in context