Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I am satisfied the purchase of the site at Thornton Hall in north County Dublin will prove to be have been a prudent investment for the taxpayer over the lifetime of the prison project. The Thornton development is a major capital project for the Irish Prison Service that will meet the service's needs well into the future. It should be considered in that context. The Government was acquiring a site for the largest penal complex in the State, not an agricultural farm, and analogies with agricultural investments are not appropriate in this context.

The development of new prison facilities at Thornton Hall should be considered in the context of the substantial cost of refurbishing Mountjoy Prison, which, if completed, would not provide an adequate number of new prison spaces to meet current demand, nor would it future-proof the development in capacity terms. There were practical operational problems associated with a major refurbishment programme in an operational prison. Due to its location and limited site footprint of approximately 20 acres, it is extremely difficult to provide the type of security measures required to secure the Mountjoy complex against drugs and weapons being thrown into the prison yard or to provide the range of work training and other facilities required in a modern prison system.

The Government remains firmly committed to replacing Mountjoy Prison with modern prison accommodation at Thornton. It is my intention to bring comprehensive new proposals to the Government in a matter of weeks setting out how we can proceed to build a new, modern, regime-oriented and cost-effective prison complex at Thornton. Following consideration of these proposals by Government, I will make a public announcement on the matter.

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