Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

In 2016 a new prison was opened in The Glen in Cork and the old prison was closed down. A commitment was made at the time by the Tánaiste's Government, which he was a Minister in, and by the Irish Prison Service that the old prison would not be reopened and would be used by the community for education and training, or maybe as a museum. The republican Thomas Kent was shot by firing squad there. There was supposed to be a community dividend. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, supported by the Taoiseach, recently announced that a new prison will go alongside the prison that was opened in 2016. Commitments were given to the community and they feel betrayed. I spoke to a lady yesterday who had a gang of young people in her garden at the weekend, in balaclavas and on scooters, throwing drugs over the wall. That is what the people up there are putting up with. This Government is talking about putting in a new prison. Why is it not being put on a greenfield site? If this Government, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach are mad about prisons, why do they not put one in their constituency, in Greystones or in the Taoiseach's constituency? The people of The Glen, St. Luke's and Dillon's Cross have had enough of it. Commitments were made by this Government. I am asking the Tánaiste now whether he will honour the commitments that were made to the people of The Glen.

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