Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an dTeachta Burton as a cuid ama a roinnt. This process is flawed from start to finish. Although I will not go over the ground again, the site's procurement was questionable. Moreover, the proposal before Members is questionable. The alternatives have not been investigated fully and super prisons do not deliver the result wished for by society. Anyone who has examined super prisons in other countries will be aware they contribute to gang warfare and the growth of gangs, and that is what this project is. In addition, it is questionable whether anyone considered an alternative to the public private partnership method of delivery.

However, I will concentrate on the motion before us, which essentially asks Members to be a planning authority. Although any planning authority will examine the detail of what is put in front of it, Members do not have specific details in respect of what has been put before them. At the committee meeting, I asked for certain details but was met with a snigger. That is not good enough. I do not seek to establish the type of bolt that is on prison doors or to ascertain the size of the walls, but Members should be entitled to know the cell size, the type of accommodation, how much space is available for rehabilitation or to visiting facilities and the like. That is not contained in the details provided. Members do not know how big the women's prison or the remand section will be. Similarly, they do not know how large the immigration detention centre will be, as the Minister has been trying to slide it in on the sly.

Members do not know how large the supposed new Garda station will be because the Government has not applied for planning permission. However, people are being told it will be there. It is not known how frequent the bus service — this magical bus — will be or whether planning permission has been sought for a court. Members have not been provided with a massive raft of detail that would enable them to make a decision on this project as a planning application. Any official in An Bord Pleanála would throw out this proposal lock, stock and barrel because of lack of detail. It is not good enough for the Minister to ask Members to be a planning authority on something as vague as a 7.2 m wall while everything contained therein is none of their business. The Minister at committee inaccurately told Members that the highest building in this complex would be two storeys.

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