Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State and thank my Fine Gael colleagues, and Senator Regan in particular, for allowing me to speak first. I declare a strong and abiding personal interest in this matter in that my house will adjoin the prison wall and my brother-in-law sold the land for the prison site. I also want to make it clear that living beside a prison is not an issue for me. If I was given a straight choice between living next door to 1,000 houses, a landfill, an incinerator or a prison, I would choose the prison. I want the Prison Service, the Minister of State and the Department to understand that I have no difficulty with this aspect of the matter. However, I believe it is the wrong location for an urban prison. For some of the reasons I have outlined, I have not been involved in any agitation against the prison. Despite my reservations over its location, I accept the decision was made democratically and I do not want to be seen to have NIMBY syndrome.

I ask the Minister of State to take a personal interest in the issues that I raise because I am speaking on behalf of local residents. I would like to hear back from him, either on a one-to-one basis or in a meeting with some of the people concerned.

The Minister of State has stated: "While the new development has not yet been given any official name, for the sake of convenience it is normally referred to as the development at Thornton Hall". I ask him to consider naming the prison at the earliest opportunity because the name "Thornton Hall" refers to a preserved building on the site which is not part of the prison complex. The new name for the prison should not include "Thornton" because those of us whose addresses include that word do not want to be confused with the inmates, regardless of how good or bad they may be. I am presenting this in a soft way but it is a serious point and I ask the Minister of State to have regard for it. Perhaps he will revert to me on the issue. A previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated that it was his intention to use "New Mountjoy" as the working title for the project. I ask this to be reflected in whatever legislation is introduced.