Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The maintenance is to do with the building and is nothing to do with the running of the prison and the interaction with prisoners. The issue of having maintenance as part of the contract and the transferring of risk to the contractor is a core element of these PPPs. Over the 25 years of the contract period, the maintenance aspect is part of the transfer of risk to the contractor. It would be a very good contract for a contractor if there were to be no transfer of risk. The contract is to design, hand over and take responsibility for the maintenance of the building.

On the issue of health services, a medical wing will be situated in the prison. Blanchardstown hospital is close by and this will be the hospital to which people will go. While the prison system has been subject to criticism over the years which has been justified in many cases, the figures I quoted earlier show this Government has invested significantly in the provision of extra prison spaces. I understand an extra 80 staff were recently granted to the probation and welfare service to build up the service. I refer to the statistics provided at the joint committee meeting that approximately 10% of those who come before the courts are given custodial sentences. The responsibility for deciding who goes to prison is with the courts and has nothing to do with us. Our responsibility is to provide safe and secure facilities for prisoners. Successive Governments have overseen situations where there has been gross overcrowding in prisons. We are not prepared to allow this to happen and the investment has been made and will continue over the next number of years.

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