Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I shall be sharing time with my colleague, Senator Ned O'Sullivan, with the agreement of the House. I want to deal with work, training and education within prison. As the Government spokesman in the Seanad on the issue of drugs, I want to emphasise that it is important we have drug-free prisons. Up to now there have been major problems in establishments such as Mountjoy, so there is now a great opportunity to install suitable screening arrangements. This will ensure visitors are properly screened for drugs, mobile phones and all manner of material that can cause great problems and undermine the running of a prison.

I am glad that the Minister has no plans to locate young offenders at Thornton Hall. There is only a contingency plan in that regard and he assures me that in the event, there will be no mixing between older and younger inmates. I welcome the Minister's Dáil comments to the effect that he is closing St. Patrick's Institution and a new Lusk offenders' facility will be completed before the Thornton Hall development. That is a very welcome initiative.

On drug rehabilitation, we have an opportunity to establish a model detoxification unit. The treatment and education of prisoners are very important and if we do not get them right, we will not have a proper rehabilitation system. It is vital that we include rehabilitation services associated with treatment, drug supply reduction, prevention, research and detoxification when designing the new prison. This will pay dividends because when the prisoners are released on their having served their time, they should have an education and a trade. This should be facilitated.

I thank the Minister of State for his very informative speech, in which he outlined what he is doing and how open he is to consultation with the residents living beside the site of the proposed prison. We will require their good will. The prison will result in financial gain for the area in question. The prison in Roscommon is an example of where this occurred. I visited it and noted it is a model of how we should treat and educate prisoners. Such a system will work well.