James Bannon (Fine Gael)

A total of 13 Departments and State bodies will move to 15 locations in the first long-overdue phase of the scaled-down programme. I am delighted that 159 Prison Service jobs have gone to Longford under the plan. As soon as the announcement was made I met the county manager and my colleagues on Longford County Council with a view to calling the Government's bluff. Longford County Council, of which I was a member at the time, donated the site free of charge to the Prison Service, as the Minister of State is aware.