Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the prisoner capacity of each prison; the number of prisoners held in each prison; his views on overcrowding in prisons; and the action he will take in the immediate, medium and long term to address the matter of prison overcrowding. [47435/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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It is a disgrace that the Deputy——

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister is not answering the question.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Minister will either obey the Chair or I will suspend the House.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I think what happened here today is a disgrace. The information requested by the Deputy——

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Minister is the one who is a disgrace.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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It is a disgrace that Deputy Rabbitte would denigrate a good public servant.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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He is the one who is a disgrace, trying to wrap the Secretary General around himself.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Very well.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte is at it again.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Do not disgrace me.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte is a disgrace.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Minister, Deputy Ahern, is a petty little man.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am not.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Very well.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Minister, Deputy Ahern, is a petty little man.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte is a man——

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I will not——

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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——who tried to denigrate a good public servant who is not able to defend himself in this House.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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——tolerate further disorder.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Why did the Minister not answer? He would not answer the question.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte cannot denigrate. He is not here to defend himself.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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He tries to give it a go about a decent public servant and he comes in here wrapping the Secretary General around himself.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte is a disgrace.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The House is adjourned for ten minutes.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table. It is the case that there has been a consistent increase in the total prisoner population over recent years. This situation is particularly apparent over the past 12 months, during which time the total number in custody has increased by approximately 280. There are a number of reasons for this increase. With the extra resources provided by this Government, the Garda Síochána has been increasingly successful in prosecuting criminals and additional court sittings have resulted in higher committal rates.

The number in custody has risen by 8% and the total number of persons in custody and on temporary release has increased by 15.5%. The provision of an additional 1,300 prison places in recent years has largely addressed the issue of overcrowding, which had been a chronic problem for the prison system. It is my view that the continuation of the current capital programme is necessary if overcrowding is not to become a problem in the future.

It has to be acknowledged that the Irish Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the courts. Figures from the past 12 years reveal that the numbers in custody have increased by 65% and the numbers on temporary release have decreased by 34%. More recently the number of committals to our prisons in 2007 was 9,711, of which 6,455 were under sentence. The average daily prison population in custody in 2007 was 3,321.

It is quite clear that we are currently operating in excess of our bed capacity in some of our prisons. In the short to medium term this issue will be addressed by the provision of 400 prison places by summer 2009 in a new remand block due to be completed in early 2009 in Castlerea Prison which will accommodate approximately 100 prisoners, a new block in Portlaoise Prison due to open in the coming months which will accommodate approximately 150 prisoners and a new block in Wheatfield Prison accommodating 150 prisoners which is due to be completed in summer 2009. Most recently, over 30 additional places have been made available at the open centre at Shelton Abbey and a further 40 places have been developed at the open centre at Loughan House. It should also be borne in mind that our prisons have contingency plans in place whereby they can accommodate numbers above their ideal working capacities. These new developments will serve the prison service until the opening of the new prison complex at Thornton Hall. This prison is designed to accommodate 1,408 prisoners based on single cell occupancy in a range of prison facilities. For operational flexibility reasons, the design has the capacity to accommodate up to 2,200 prisoners in a multiple occupancy arrangement. This flexibility will future proof the development in capacity terms for the next 50 years.

The Irish Prison Service capital programme will also ensure the elimination of the unacceptable practice of slopping out and will effectively complete the modernisation of the prison estate. The prison estate will be comparable to best international practice in terms of accommodation, facilities and services for the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners into society. The Government and the Irish Prison Service have anticipated the demand for prison spaces and have acted accordingly.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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It is regrettable the Minister refuses to accept the fact that the prison system is undergoing a crisis. The criminal justice system is being undermined by dint of the hundreds of offenders who are committed to prison by the courts to serve lengthy sentences only to be released after a short period. How does the Minister propose to deal with this issue?

Does he accept the findings of a recent interim report of the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention which found that prisoners were sleeping in the reception area of Mountjoy Prison, on dirty and soiled mattresses and on cell floors, in some cases without mattresses? The inspector pointed out that violence among prisoners was beginning to reflect gang related conflicts outside of prison and, in an understatement, noted that overcrowding has become excessive. However, the Minister claims there is no problem.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I do not claim there is no problem. I told the Deputy that we are at capacity and that we have developed 1,300 new places in the past ten years in order to address the issue. That compares favourably with Fine Gael's record in Government. When Nora Owen was Minister for Justice, she cancelled the prison building programme. We restarted the programme in 1997 and have since then developed 1,300 new places. We will open a further 400 places between now and the summer. That is the short-term solution, whereas the answer in the long term will be Thornton prison.

The figure for temporary release is in the region of 10% to 11%, which compares favourably with the figures for 1994 at 22.2%, 1995 at 20%, 1996 at 17.9%, and 1997 at 19.2%. I accept that problems exist in Mountjoy and the Dochas Centre. We are opening 400 new places in Castlerea, Portlaoise and Wheatfield prisons. I recently visited Cloverhill and Wheatfield prisons and found the conditions there to greatly exceed a comparable prison that I visited in Italy. When we finish this programme in mid-summer, we will have renewed 40% of the prison estate, thus ensuring our facilities are among the best in the world.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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On the next occasion this House meets, we will be a week short of spring. At the end of 2008, I ask the Minister to set out precisely the programme for Thornton Hall. I have heard about it for years but I want to know the factual position. Can he chart the progress made on the project or tell us when building will commence?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The aim for Thornton Hall was to sign the contract in early 2009 but in light the current economic difficulties, the current bidder and I anticipate all the other bidders are experiencing problems with the credit crunch. I understand that negotiations are ongoing and efforts will be resumed in the new year to obtain the finance required at a reasonable rate. We want the project to proceed. As it is a public private partnership, the taxpayer will not pay a cent until the project is completed and ready for takeover. It is a 25 year project but in the short term we are putting in place 400 additional places between now and the summer.