Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the capital projects he will undertake in 2012. [38037/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Under the recently published Infrastructure and Capital Investment programme 2012-2016, the justice sector allocation for 2012 is €56 million. This represents a 30% reduction on the current year's allocation of €80 million. While detailed planning for 2012 is in the process of being finalised, it is important that this allocation is utilised in such a manner as to drive the maximum value possible and have the greatest impact.

Our key priority for 2012 is to address the issue of overcrowding and conditions in prisons. The lion's share of the 2012 allocation, €24.1million, is therefore targeted at addressing these issues within the Prison Service and will result in several major projects being undertaken or completed during 2012. Work will continue on the completion of a new wing in the Midlands Prison, which will result in an additional 300 spaces becoming available. In addition, renovations will be undertaken on B wing in Mountjoy Prison with the result that by the end of the year, almost 60% of cells will have in–cell sanitation. Other general infrastructural projects to be undertaken by the Prison Service in 2012 include the upgrading and enhancement of fire detection and CCTV systems and the development of key information technology systems.

Within the Courts Service Vote, building renovation and upgrading projects will commence at Wexford, Waterford, Mullingar, Portlaoise and Dundalk. There will be additional project work undertaken on information technology systems in order to facilitate the implementation of the Fines Act 2010, which will allow for fines to be paid by instalment.

In respect of the Justice Vote for 2012, I intend to continue with the development of a DNA database by the Forensic Science Laboratory. I also intend to explore how best the completion of the building of the new laboratory and office accommodation for the Office of the State Pathologist, which is a partnership project with Dublin City Council, can be progressed having regard to the limited capital sum available. The current works are suspended due to the original developer being placed in receivership and the project will need to be re-tendered in order to proceed.

On the Garda Síochána and Property Registration Authority Votes, the focus is on the efficient and effective delivery of services. In keeping with this aim, the majority of expenditure on these Votes will be on the development and maintenance of information technology and communications systems.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality visited St. Patrick's Institution and Mountjoy Prison at the end of October. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the governor of Mountjoy, Mr. Edward Whelan, and his staff for the transformation they have overseen in recent years. I am pleased this work will continue.

However, there is a missed opportunity in the postponement of the construction of Thornton Hall. The Minister has indicated that the project may be considered in the future. While several large-scale capital projects under the remit of the Department of Health, for example, have been given the go ahead, this flagship prison accommodation project did not escape the cull. A great chance has thereby been lost to reform the prison system. Is the project dead or does the Minister envisage it commencing in the next three to four years? Is any review planned in this regard?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I agree that the governor of Mountjoy Prison, Mr. Whelan, has done an extraordinary job in a very short time. He has transformed the facility and put in place effective measures to reduce the amount of drugs and mobile telephones getting into the prison. He has made a very substantial difference and it is right that we acknowledge it.

The Thornton Hall project is not dead. I greatly regret that having spent a very large sum of money, in excess of €30 million, on the acquisition of lands for the prison in 2006, the previous Government, when it was flaithiúlach with money, did not use some of it to progress the project. It attempted to put in place a public private partnership but was not successful. We now find ourselves in a position of very limited funding.

The Government has accepted in principle the recommendations of the Thornton Hall review group that a new prison should ultimately be built at that site. I should also mention Kilworth Prison in Cork, about which I have substantial concerns in regard to its capacity. That is not to take away from the governor of that facility, who is also doing an extraordinary job. When we get to the autumn of next year and examine what capital is available in real terms to the Department for 2013, I hope we will have an opportunity at least to progress either the Kilworth or the Mountjoy project. The fact that we are now able to provide in-cell sanitation at Mountjoy is relieving some of the pressures, something which was considered impossible a few years ago. It may be that providing a facility to replace that at Kilworth will have a greater priority than addressing Thornton Hall. However, on a policy level, we are committed to both projects. Progress simply depends on whether the necessary funding is available.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Most of us are still thinking about 2012, never mind 2013. What the governor, Mr. Whelan, has done in Mountjoy shows what can be achieved with a modest expenditure, particularly in terms of simple measures relating to drugs and so on.

The Minister mentioned in his reply that information technology upgrades will be necessary in order to implement the provisions of the Fines Act. When we were discussing the Estimates this morning, moneys were reallocated from the Courts Service's information technology Vote to another area. Given the need for the upgrade project to be done as quickly as possible, why is there an underspend in respect of the Courts Service's information technology allocation?

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister's comment in regard to Kilworth Prison. In regard to the construction of new Garda stations, I presume this comes under the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality. We have just had a debate on the proposed closure of some existing stations. However, a planning application was recently submitted in respect of a new Garda station in Cork. Where will the capital funding come from to progress that project?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I understand the capital funding for Garda stations, fortunately, comes from the OPW. If I am wrong in that I will notify the Deputy in writing of the correction. It is my understanding that there are some plans within the OPW, in accordance with the limited financial envelope available to it, to progress the project to which the Deputy referred. However, whether it will progress in 2012 or perhaps go through a planning change I do not know. I will inquire into it further for the Deputy.

Regarding the information technology underspend to which Deputy Calleary referred, some of this can simply be due to timing. We dealt largely with current expenditure today, including maintenance issues and so on, whereas the putting in place of new software systems for the implementation of the provisions of the Fines Act is a capital project. Unfortunately, the Estimates produced by the previous Government in December 2010 did not include an allocation for funding for the new software. We now have that funding for next year and I will ensure it is secured in order to allow us to develop the system. That is why it is part of the programme to which I referred.