Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The proposal is a farce. As time is running out, I will confine my contribution to asking a small number of the questions raised by residents. We tried to glean from the Minister whether he is willing to move on these issues. Will the Minister supply residents with the report he cited in committee today from engineering consultants who stated that any local flooding was probably caused by insufficient maintenance of existing land drains? This would allow residents to refute its contents.

If the Minister alters in any way the proposals before us — there is no point in consulting residents unless he proposes to address some of their concerns — will he revert to the House or are the proposals to which he hopes the House will sign up tonight a fait accompli? Will Deputies have an opportunity to discuss the matter again in the event of amendments being made to the proposals?

Can the Minister guarantee that the wall will not be more than 7.2 m in height? In the application the figure is preceded by the word "approximately", which I have never seen used in any type of planning application. What will be the exact height of the wall — 8 m, 7.2 m or 6 m? These are simple questions.

Is the Minister willing to consider reducing the sterile area or cordon sanitaire from the proposed distance of 120 ft. or 40 m? I do not understand the reason two walls are required, given the proposal to fit electronic surveillance systems and so forth. Erecting the second wall closer to the first wall would at least allow residents a little more breathing space. What will be the height of the control tower about which the Minister forgot to tell the committee? Will it be two, three or four storeys?

Deputies referred to Dóchas. In the event that the facility at Lusk is not built, would it be appropriate to allow young people who are incarcerated to be housed close to their families in the Dóchas facility? Has the Minister considered this and other options? From the information supplied to me, it appears he has not considered options other than the Ceaucescu type proposal made by the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Michael McDowell.

Will the 100-bed segregated unit be left empty pending the day when 100 people are picked up and placed in it? Is Bernard McNamara still a member of the Fianna Fáil Party and does his membership of the party have any implications in terms of being a preferred bidder?

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