Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I thank Deputy Flanagan. She made a plea to the Minister and he ignored her plea. Is it the economic consideration of the development value of the Mountjoy site that is causing the Minister to move Dóchas out to Kilsallaghan? I would appreciate a reply.

Has the OPW been commissioned to design and produce the Garda station promised by the Minister? I have sought information on this matter on a few occasions. Will the OPW do it and has it been commissioned to do so? When does the Minister envisage that the light will be put up outside the Garda station? Will he give us a ballpark time for that?

Earlier today, the Minister told me in committee that the prison at Thornton Hall is being designed by the OPW. Having received a note on it, the Minister corrected the record some time later, saying that the OPW is excluded. The OPW had gone into great detail to design a model for the refurbished Mountjoy and had acquired much familiarity with it so why has it been excluded? As we do not have time to go into the detailed matters of concern that residents raised, I ask the Minister to meet them to see if further progress can be made on those issues.

I also wish to raise the question of drugs treatment. We are told that 70% of prisoners either have a drink — many of us have that, but they have it more seriously — or a drugs problem. What will be done in the case of Kilsallaghan that will be different in terms of drug treatment and rehabilitation? Will the Minister describe that and put it on the record of the House, since this is the last opportunity we will get to do so?

Earlier today, I paraphrased Senator Joe O'Toole but did not have the precise quotation. I have the quote now, however. The Opposition has been confronted with a mysterious situation whereby we went into committee on this matter but could not find anybody who was promoting the project. The Minister was not there initially and his backbenchers disowned it. They also disowned any discussion of prison policy or reform in the prison service. Senator Joe O'Toole said: "If there was a survey, they would be 100% against it". Given the temperature out there, the Minister should sit down with the reasonable citizens to see if further progress can be made. They have presented us with geological evidence that indicates a waterlogging problem in the area. I do not have any knowledge about that, but surely the Minister can meet the residents to see if they can be assuaged on that point.

Will the Minister clarify something for me? Did he say there will be a 100-bed unit for the detention of persons not indigenous to this island? Will he explain that to me? Who exactly is it intended might be detained there? Are they immigrants who will not lawfully be resident in the State under the new Immigration and Residence Bill when it is enacted? Are they some potential asylum seekers? I still do not understand that. The Minister referred to deportees, but can we have an explanation?

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