Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am responding to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The existing Cork Prison was built by the British military in the early 19th century as part of what is now known as Collins Barracks. It was only in 1972 that it was transferred to the Department of Justice and used as a civil prison. Originally designed for 150 inmates, it now has a capacity for 270 and is normally operating at close to full capacity.

The Deputy will be aware that it has been the policy of the Irish Prison Service to modernise all outmoded prison accommodation to bring it in line with modern facilities, including full in-cell sanitation. The Deputy will also be aware that the existing accommodation at Cork Prison falls well short of these requirements. In particular conditions are crowded and there is no in-cell sanitation. There is insufficient recreation space and, furthermore, the lack of space does not allow an adequate perimeter security to prevent drugs and weapons being launched into the prison. The site is not suitable for redevelopment and it is planned in due course to replace it by a new Munster prison built on a greenfield site. Planning exercises by the Irish Prison Service indicate that a facility with a capacity of approximately 400 to 500 prisoners would be required to ensure adequate capacity for the Munster region over the next ten to 15 years.

In this regard the Government decided earlier this year to assign a site owned by the Minister for Defence in Kilworth to the Prison Service to serve as the location for the development of a prison facility to replace Cork Prison and serve the Munster region. The project is at an early stage. A preliminary site suitability report has been carried out on the site and this has confirmed that there are no significant constraints to the development of this site. A process of consultation has commenced with representatives of the local community, a number of meetings have being held and these will continue as outline plans for the new development are drawn up.

While a decision has been made in principle to proceed, there are a number of steps that must be gone through before a detailed plan of a prison facility on the site can be finalised and a contract signed. The first step required by Department of Finance guidelines on capital expenditure is the preparation of a business case for the project. The Prison Service interim board has approved recently the necessary preliminary business case for this project and has forwarded it to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for consideration. In due course and in consultation with the National Development Finance Agency a decision will have to be made on the procurement process to be used and in particular whether a public private partnership approach is appropriate. That decision will influence the timing of the design phase. The Deputy will understand that it is not possible to be definitive about the project until a design has been agreed.

When a detailed design has been finalised development consent will be sought. Before consent to a prison development can be given, the procedures set out in Part 9 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 and, where appropriate, section 181A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as inserted by section 36 of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 or the procedures set out in Part 4 of the Prisons Act 2007 must be followed. Both these procedures require public notice to be given of the proposed development and allow submissions to be made by interested parties on the development. There will therefore be a formal consultation process with local interests at that stage. Allowing for the steps still to be taken, including the tendering process as well as the design and construction phase, it is unlikely that a new prison facility to replace Cork Prison will be completed at Kilworth before 2011.

As to the approximate cost, the terms and scope of the project have not yet been finalised. In addition, this project will be procured by means of a public tender competition and, accordingly, it is not appropriate for a number of reasons to publish estimates of the cost at this point.

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