Results 14,041-14,060 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: His letter makes clear that he had made no firm decisions as to the "strategy" he was following in regard to this site. No attempt was made to inform the viewers that the site selection committee at its meeting of 18 January had before it a site evaluation report prepared by Clifton Scannell Emerson Consulting Engineers and McCabe Durney Planning Consultants. It was evident to anyone who read...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: No attempt was made to explain to the viewers that in the course of a year-long purchase process no suitable land was offered in County Dublin to the site selection committee at agricultural prices or any amount close to those prices. No attempt was made to explain to the viewers that the price agreed in respect of Thornton Hall was the lowest price of all the sites evaluated as suitable by...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: At that stage, he immediately reported the matter to the committee and offered to absent himself if it caused any embarrassment. I believe he acted with totally impeccable propriety regarding that matter. He acted in the interest of the Irish Prison Service and with the utmost professional integrity. The House might be interested to know that my view of him is generally shared. I note, since...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: He did not do so. In the course of a studio discussion, reference was made to questions put to me as Minister by the programme makers. Those questions were furnished to my Department only yesterday at 2.50 p.m., when I was visiting a child care facility in Cork before my visit to the National Ploughing Championships. It is self-evident that the film package on which the programme was based...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is a very good point. He should tell that to the people of Meath the next time he is there.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: With more gardaí, there would be no prisons.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: During my tenure as Minister, I will also be introducing a new set of prison rules to replace the antiquated ones that now govern our prisons. With the Tánaiste, I am determined to bring to an end the scandalous neglect which the State has shown prisoners with mental health problems and psychiatric illnesses. It is our intention to replace the Victorian Central Mental Hospital with a...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: Then, when he was not happy with that, he attempted to rezone Mountjoy so that it would have no replacement value as a greenfield site.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am aware that a small number of residents in the area, which is thinly populated, given its proximity to the city, are conducting a well-funded campaign against the siting of a prison facility in their area. They have placed advertisements on the front of newspapers, and I commend them on exercising their democratic right. They are also entitled to lobby Deputies.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: I can understand that they have concerns about such a development in their back yard. I daresay that there is no place in the Dublin area — I would like Deputies to tell me where there is one — and few places on the whole island where the siting of a prison would be welcomed universally by local residents. However, as public representatives we must look beyond narrow, local sectional...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is very disappointing, therefore, to see both the Labour Party and Fine Gael strongly backing the interests of a group of residents in one area, however well-intentioned, and showing so little regard for the welfare of prisoners or the wider public interest in ensuring we have an effective and humane prison infrastructure. The sole purpose of the motion is to try to generate negative...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: This proposed resolution will not affect that one way or the other. Similarly, the suggestion in their joint press release that the resolution will result in the Comptroller and Auditor General conducting an inquiry into the transaction before it is completed is bizarre.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is complete nonsense and has no basis in either law or reality. If they even half-believed their own propaganda, one would think that they might have tried bringing forward this motion back in January or February when the purchase was announced, rather than waiting to do it a matter of days before the closing date, when there is not a remote possibility of any inquiry being completed...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: However, I will not be party to a motion that implies the Comptroller and Auditor General would not of his own accord look into this transaction and that pretends this resolution will do something it cannot possibly do.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: How can the Members opposite talk about value for the taxpayer when they have opposed all cost effective proposals——

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——and schemed to block the sale of Mountjoy Prison and tried to artificially lower its resale value? That is what members of the Labour Party on Dublin county Council did, at Deputy Costello's behest. How can I or the general public take seriously a party that proclaims it is concerned about value for the taxpayer when at the same time it argued for the redevelopment of the already...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: I did not. The figure was 2,000.

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: How can any rational person entertain such an approach? If Opposition Members want to talk about value for the taxpayer, let us look at the finances relating to Thornton. Its development costs will be a fraction of the cost of redeveloping Mountjoy Prison. The new prison development at Thornton Hall will be more cost effective to operate, have better facilities with room for expansion and...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: When looking at the cost of developing Thornton Hall, one must take into account that Mountjoy Prison is old and inefficient and that the Prison Service estimates that by replacing it at Thornton, we will achieve operational savings of €30 million to €40 million per year. In addition, its cost is being funded in part by the sale of Shanganagh, which will eventually yield between €15...

Prison Building Programme: Motion. (28 Sep 2005)

Michael McDowell: That may be true and I will be glad if it proves to be so. When Deputy Costello has the courage to examine that place, justify its retention and say it is the correct environment in which to keep psychiatrically ill people, I will be glad to hear his arguments.