Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Will the Minister clarify his statement about maintenance and security fees? Generally, it is not necessary to protect farmland in Ireland. Why is it necessary to protect this farm and spend in excess of €100,000 doing so? Perhaps there is an explanation; I do not know.

I wish to ask the Minister about answers he gave to the House previously which allowed the inference to be drawn that this prison will cost hundreds of millions. The collapse of the deal with Bernard McNamara offers the opportunity to rethink the whole thing. The Minister will shortly be able to get an inner city site from the National Asset Management Agency for a fraction of the folly that was committed at Kilsallaghan, if the Government is successful in enacting the legislation. The Kilsallaghan site is entirely unsuitable.

Is there not a strong argument from people involved in penal reform and penal policy that building a gargantuan prison such as this is the wrong thing to do? If the Minister adds to the Midlands Prison and if he has the prospect of acquiring a site for a fraction of Kilsallaghan in the inner city, which would be much more convenient for people, he should rethink the entire project because one would have to take with a grain of salt his statement that phase two will start next year. Having already spent €40 million on the project, why should we spend more taxpayers' money for a site on a farm in north Dublin which is not suitable for this purpose and may never be realised in the Minister's, or my, political lifetime?

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