Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann, noting:

that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, having considered the need for a new prison in the Dublin area, has decided to proceed with the development of a prison in the District Electoral Division of Kilsallaghan, in the County of Fingal;

that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has caused the documents specified in section 26(2) of the Prisons Act 2007 (No. 10 of 2007) relating to the development of a prison to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas together with a document containing the observations of that Minister on the environmental impact assessment and the report of the rapporteur;

that the proposed development relates to the construction of a prison:

(a) located in the District Electoral Division of Kilsallaghan in the County of Fingal;

(b) for the purpose of accommodating not more than 2,200 prisoners;

(c) which development will consist of buildings of a floor area of approximately 140,000 square metres within a site of approximately 57 hectares;

(d) the site of which development will be bounded by a perimeter wall approximately 7 metres in height constructed behind the existing landscaped perimeter screen planting; and

(e) which development will consist of buildings with a height of 2 storeys other than the control centre which will have a height of 3 storeys;

that the following alterations having been made by the Minister to the development in accordance with section 25 of the Prisons Act 2007 (No. 10 of 2007) in order to mitigate its visual and aural impact:

(i) the erection of a 3 metre high timber fence on the outer boundary of the car park areas on the west side of the site (marked B on the map placed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the Oireachtas Library on 14 May 2008), the re-design and adjustment of the car park, the lowering of the level of the car park at the boundary by approximately 1.5 metres and the imposition of a height limit for lighting fixtures in such car parks so that all the lighting fixtures shall be less than 3 metres in height off the ground;

(ii) the widening of planting areas at the places marked A on the map placed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the Oireachtas Library on the 14 May 2008 by not less than 4 metres, the planting, where appropriate, of larger, mature trees and the relocating of the wall further from the boundary by a similar distance not to exceed 10 metres to accommodate the widened planted area;

(iii) the use of concrete, which has been treated or conditioned in such a manner as to make it visually less obtrusive, on the exterior security walls on the West and North of the development; and

(iv) the development of a new access road;

that an environmental impact assessment was prepared with respect to the proposed development;

that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform invited submissions or observations relating to the development of the prison from members of the public:

(a) by means of advertisement placed:

(i) in the following national publications on the 29 February 2008:

The Irish Times;

The Irish Independent; and

The Irish Examiner;

(ii) in the following local publication:

the Fingal Independent for the week commencing 3 March 2008;

(b) by the erection of site notices at 5 locations on the perimeter of the site;

(c) by issuing a newsletter ('Thornton Hall Newsletter 2') on 3 March 2008 which was delivered by An Post to more than 1,000 houses in the locality;

(d) by causing an announcement of the proposed development to be published:

(i) on the website of the Irish Prison Service; and

(ii) on the website of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

that the main measures taken to avoid, reduce or offset any possible significant adverse effects of the development on the environment are:

(i) the use of a design based primarily on two storey buildings (except for the control centre), centrally based away from the perimeter with a cordon sanitaire and extensive tree screening minimising the visual and environmental impact including the impact on the local ground waters;

(ii) the retention, as far as possible, of the mature hedgerows and trees on the perimeter of the site and the creation of new habitat by tree planting;

(iii) the mitigation of potential impact from traffic by the development of a new access road diverting construction and operational traffic away from the road classified by the Minister for Transport as a regional road and assigned the number R130 in the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 188 of 2006), the town of Coolquay in the County of Fingal and the Francis Taylor National School at Kilcoskan in the County of Fingal and the provision of a regular dedicated bus service, related to demand, linking the city of Dublin to the site of the proposed prison;

(iv) the mitigation of noise, dust and other emissions by prioritising the construction of the perimeter wall that will aid the mitigation of noise, dust and other emissions and the adoption of a Construction Environmental Management Plan;

(v) the management of the surface water system in a manner which controls the quality and quantity of the surface water in a manner likely to avoid any adverse effect on local water drainage systems (which management includes the use of underground attenuation storage);

(vi) the implementation of an environmental management programme to ensure the correct handling and storage of potentially contaminating materials and waste disposal;

(vii) the use of solar water heating, rainwater harvesting, biomass boilers, natural ventilation and measures to minimise carbon emissions and water demand;

(viii) the minimisation of night light impact by the use of adjustable perimeter security lighting;

(ix) the preservation of the Thornton Hall building which will not form part of the prison site; and

(x) the investigation of the site to identify, record, resolve or protect potential archaeological heritage in the area of the development;

that visual representations of the exterior of the completed development appear at the end of this resolution;

that the conditions relating to the construction of the new prison to be complied with by the principal building contractor or developer engaged by the Minister are:

(a) that the development shall not vary in any material way from that outlined in the environmental impact assessment and the visual representations of the exterior of the completed development as laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas;

(b) that the construction schedule shall:

(i) give priority to the construction of an access route from the road classified by the Minister for Transport as a regional road and assigned the number R135 in the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006 (S.I. No.188 of 2006) to the main site at Thornton Hall and that route will be used as the sole access route for all heavy construction traffic for the development; and

(ii) thereafter give priority to the construction of those sections of the perimeter wall that will minimise the impact of construction work within that perimeter on persons residing or working in the locality;

(c) that the road classified by the Minister for Transport as a regional road and assigned the number R130 in the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 188 of 2006) shall not be used by heavy construction, delivery or removal vehicles other than:

(i) that portion of the road that must be crossed to gain access to the Thornton Hall part of the site from the new access route;

(ii) that portion of the road that must be accessed to construct the underpass from the new access route to the Thornton Hall part of the site; and

(iii) in emergencies where there is a threat to life or property and where the use of the new access route is not viable for that emergency;

(d) that the emergency exits at the north-west and south ends of the site shall not be used by service or delivery vehicles at any stage during construction or operation and shall only be used in the case of emergencies or emergency exercises;

(e) that construction shall not commence until a Construction Environmental Management Plan has been drawn up by the primary contractor, approved of by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and implemented in keeping with best practice and in particular the construction phase mitigation and other measures specified in sections 7.5, 8.7.1, 9.6.1, 10.5.1, 11.5.1, 12.6, 13.5 and 15.5 of the Environmental Impact Assessment shall be adhered to by the body or bodies contractually responsible for the construction of the development including any subcontractors;

resolves to approve the development of the said prison at Kilsallaghan in the County of Fingal.

To facilitate a more in-depth consideration of this matter, it is proposed to refer the resolution placed on the Order Paper under section 26(1) of the Prisons Act 2007, approving the development of a prison in the district electoral area of Kilsallaghan in the county of Fingal to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. Technically, the subject matter of this debate, therefore, is a referral motion, but it is agreed on all sides that we should focus on the proposed development itself.

The development proposed comprises eight separate and distinct institutions designed to hold a total of 1,400 prisoners on a single site of approximately 120 acres, enclosed within a single perimeter with centralised stores, work training, educational and library facilities and visitor facilities. All the buildings, except the control centre, will be two stories or less. The existing boundary hedgerows are being maintained. Inside that boundary there will be a planted area 10 to 20 m in depth, then a fence, a patrol road and then a wall approximately 7 m in height. Inside that wall is the cordon sanitaire which will be generally 40 m in depth before one reaches the internal fencing of the development. Car parking for visitors and staff is outside the perimeter wall. A dedicated public transport service to the development from the city will be provided for those visitors who wish to avail of it. The floor area is approximately 140,000 m2.

The development of the prison facility centred at Thornton Hall will be the single biggest step in improving standards for prisoners since the foundation of the State. Its main purpose is to replace existing sub-standard accommodation and allow greater capacity to avoid overcrowding. It will do away with the current practice of slopping out in the Mountjoy male prison. Instead of sharing a cell — conditions that have been criticised severely both by the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment, CPT, and the former Inspector of Prisons — prisoners will be housed in individual cells meeting the requirements of the 21st century. The new development will mean that instead of the existing situation where, on frequent occasions, there are more prisoners than beds in both the Mountjoy male prison and the Dóchas centre, there will be sufficient capacity to deal with the number of men and women being committed to prison in the Dublin area by the courts.

The new prison will mean that it will be possible to assess individual prisoners as to their level of risk and to assign them to an institution with the appropriate level of security for that prisoner. Furthermore, it will be possible to keep feuding gangs separate from one another and their ring leaders isolated, reducing the potential for violence between prisoners. The introduction of a cordon sanitaire 40 m deep around the perimeter of the prison will make it impractical for anyone to try to throw drugs and other illicit materials over the wall into areas accessible by prisoners.

The new prison will have sufficient educational, workshop and other facilities so that all prisoners can be productively engaged. The entire design of the complex is regimes-led, with a focus on rehabilitation. Prisoners can progress from high-security, relatively strict regimes to step-down, apartment-style accommodation to prepare them for their re-entry into the community. Thornton Hall prison will mean that instead of housing more than 990 prisoners on a 20 acre site, and 585 of them in one institution, we will have eight self-contained institutions with a total capacity of 1,400 prisoners on a 120 acre site. The largest institution will hold 192 prisoners. The design is such as to gain the maximum rehabilitative benefit from having a collection of small institutions but to also maximise the operational benefits associated with larger prisons by having one perimeter wall, central stores and maintenance service.

By reducing existing pressure on prison capacity in the Dublin area Thornton Hall will give greater flexibility in developing other prisons. For example, it will allow younger male offenders to be located at Wheatfield which has the proper facilities for that age group. The detention of persons under 18 is no longer the responsibility of the Irish Prison Service and the intention is to house all offenders under 18 in Oberstown. I expect new facilities at Oberstown to be available before the closure of the Mountjoy complex but if for any reason they are not, contingency plans are in place to keep the young males in question in a separate facility at Thornton where they will have no interaction with adult prisoners, pending completion of the necessary works at Oberstown.

The Prisons Act 2007 sets out a special procedure that may be applied for the purpose of determining whether consent should be granted to larger prison developments. Prior to the Prisons Act 2007, the procedure for all prison developments was determined in accordance with Part 9 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001. Under those regulations, the Minister of the day was effectively the deciding authority for planning matters for prisons and until the enactment of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 there was no statutory provision for an environmental impact assessment for a prison development.

The purpose of the 2007 Act was to provide a more open and transparent mechanism for major prison developments under which an environmental impact assessment, EIA, meeting EC standards must be prepared and where the Houses of the Oireachtas make the decision whether to grant development consent. This is done in the form of a resolution, which we are discussing today, which must be then confirmed by an Act. The confirming legislation can only be presented to the House after the appropriate resolution has been passed.

The initial stages of the process have already been progressed. On 29 May 2007 the provisions of Part 4 of the Prisons Act 2007 was applied to the proposed prison development in the district electoral division of Kilsallaghan. The main development is at the site of Thornton Hall in the townland of Thorntown although part of the development — mainly the access route — goes through adjoining townlands, all in the Kilsallaghan area. While the new development has not yet been given any official name, for the sake of convenience it is normally referred to as the development at Thornton Hall.

The Director General of the Irish Prison Service appointed Jacobs Engineering Ireland to carry out the environmental impact assessment; full copies of this are available in the Oireachtas Library. On 29 February 2008 public notice was given of the proposed prison development, copies of the EIA and visual representations of the proposed development were made available to the public and observations and submissions were invited. The Prisons Act 2007 provides for a six-week consultation period which ended at midnight of 11 April 2008. The rapporteur received 130 submissions and has produced his report which has been published. The purpose of the report of the rapporteur is to identify those who have made submissions, identify the main issues raised and to provide a summary of the submissions and observations received. There is no provision for the rapporteur to comment on the validity or otherwise of submissions made nor is there any provision for him to make any recommendations.

My predecessor and I have had regard to the environmental impact assessment and the report of the rapporteur in proposing the resolution now before the House. The EIA already had identified a significant number of measures to mitigate the impact of the development on the environment and further mitigation measures are now proposed in the context of the resolution to address concerns raised during the public consultation process.

To facilitate the Houses of the Oireachtas in their consideration of the matter, the Minister must lay before the Houses: a document stating the location, purpose and size of the development, its land use requirements and an estimate of any residues and emissions expected; an environmental impact assessment; visual representations of the exterior of the development; and the report of the rapporteur. In addition, the Minister may also lay a document containing his observations on any of the above documents.

While much of this information, in particular the EIA, has been available to Members of the House since the end of February, all the documentation mentioned was formally laid before both Houses on 14 May 2008. As well as the report of the rapporteur, an electronic copy of all the submissions received has also been made available in the Library for the convenience of any Member who wishes to examine the original submissions. I took the opportunity to lay a document setting out my observations pursuant to section 26(3) of the Prisons Act 2007 on the EIA and rapporteur's report. In particular that document addresses each detailed point raised in the report setting out my observations on it.

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