Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

This is a project into which, in many respects, the Oireachtas was bounced. It was a rushed job at the time and it was ill-thought through. It is symptomatic of the waste of this Government and the expense incurred has been the subject of adverse comment by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The site secured was 50% bigger than originally intended and there was a lack of competition in the process. While it is acknowledged that the facilities in Mountjoy and other prisons are below standard, to put it mildly, the Government cannot take a slap on the back for the project it put together at Thornton Hall.

Having said that, we are dealing today with what is essentially a planning matter, as the Minister of State indicated. It is not dissimilar to the Part VIII process with local authorities where a local authority is a planning authority. The Prisons Act 2000 gives that authority to the Minister and Oireachtas.

On the planning process, the remarks of Senator O'Toole on payback, quid pro quo or at least consideration for the local community in terms of its concerns on planning aspects should be taken on board. It is a major project and any planning process, whether approved by a local authority or An Bord Pleanála, would normally attach conditions dealing with the type of concerns raised by Senator O'Toole. I ask the Minister of State to bear that in mind.

There is no question but that there is a need for increased capacity in our prison system and to improve the standard of accommodation and facilities for prisoners. In particular, there is a need to end the sub-human and degrading practice of slopping out and the problems that arise from overcrowding in individual cells. The fact prisoners will have individual cells is to be welcomed. The proposal to have eight individual and self-contained accommodation blocks with different security levels also represents good practice. There is no question this facility, as we understand it and as it has been outlined, will certainly provide the space for work training, education and rehabilitation programmes.

It appears to be a facility which is too big for the purpose. The Government is attempting to justify the choice of the site and the scale of the lands purchased by a number of measures. It is ending the Dóchas Centre in Mountjoy and transferring the female prisoners from there. That is a ten-year-old modern facility so that move requires some explanation. The suggestion of accommodating young offenders at Thornton Hall seems to be in breach of international practice. There is also a move essentially to criminalise the mentally ill by moving the Central Mental Hospital to Thornton Hall. There is also the issue of detaining asylum seekers at the new complex. All of these moves represent bad policy and are not supported by Fine Gael.

While we are dealing with the planning process, given the scale of this project, we should outline the Government's prison policy. That is what is disappointing in the justification of or rationalisation for this project. We know from the reports of the prison inspectorate, prison chaplains and the European Council Committee for the Prevention of Torture that we have, to say the least, an inadequate current prison system. Violence is rife and there is a continuity of criminal activity within the prison facilitated by the availability of mobile phones. Illegal drugs are also available within the prison. Almost 25% of the prison population is under protective custody and an average of one prisoner per month in 2007 died in custody.

What we really have is a warehousing prison policy where there are entirely inadequate rehabilitation programmes and where education programmes have been discontinued, notwithstanding the hard evidence that education programmes play a fundamental role in reducing reoffending by prisoners. There is also the case of those entering prison because of crimes relating to drug addiction but they are given no opportunity to live in a drug-free environment in prison or avail of adequate drug treatment programmes. This creates a system which makes hard criminals harder, more alienated and angry when they finish their sentences.

I appreciate the Oireachtas will return to this matter as a Bill must be passed by the Oireachtas in approving this project. There should be a statutory obligation in the new Bill to make prison complexes drug-free. There is reference to a perimeter, or cordon sanitaire, some 40 m deep around the prison to prevent drugs getting in. There is also a need for screening of visitors, although I do not know if the Minister of State can address that.

There is an ad hoc system of drug treatment. In Mountjoy, only nine prisoners at a time can avail of the drug treatment programme. There is also an obligation on the Government not only to provide facilities for rehabilitation but for programmes as well. There is no evidence that exists at present. Taking the cost of housing a prisoner for one year as almost €100,000, that not only makes good policy but economic sense.

There is a role for education in prisons in encouraging prisoners to enter society again without reoffending. Some 50% of young offenders are illiterate and the figure for the adult prison population is 65%. The problem will not be solved by bricks and mortar alone. The extent of reoffending — 50% within four years and 27% re-entering prison within a year — underlines the problem that exists. Society must have an effective legal system that penalises criminals for their offences. However, without drug-free prisons and proper drug treatment facilities, as well as a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, the warehousing system we have will continue.

I wish to ask the Minister of State one or two questions on a number of points he has made. With regard to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated yesterday no concrete plans have, as yet, been drawn up for a new central mental hospital on this site. The Minister said today that this is a matter for the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health and Children but it appears we are passing the buck and not being forthright. It is clear there is an intention, and it is for administrative reasons rather than any medical or good prison policy reasons, to relocate this hospital.

On the economic aspect, we have good medical advice on that as well as the advice of economists such as Jim Power that this decision does not make economic sense. Will the Minister provide greater clarity on the Government's intention on this matter?

The preferred bidder in this project is the McNamara group, which has withdrawn from a number of public private partnership projects with Dublin City Council. Is there a plan B regarding this project? The Minister stated that if the project does not go ahead with this developer, other options can be pursued. What are those other options?

Is it envisaged that there will be court facilities at Thornton Hall to avoid trekking to and forth from the prison to court, tying up many human resources, including the police, and affecting the smooth running of the prison?

I ask the Minister to comment on those three points.