Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his presentation and welcome him to the House. It is the first time I have had an opportunity to discuss a policy issue with him.

There is no question a new prison is needed and it must be of the highest standard. I appreciate that the process which has gone through the Oireachtas on Thornton Hall essentially has been a planning one. I have difficulties, however, with the manner in which the process has proceeded. Various submissions have been made by outside bodies regarding the prison and prison policy. There has been no meaningful response to these submissions, however, from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The Thornton Hall proposals contain many good elements, for instance, the separation of prisoners, the individual cells, the self-contained accommodation and the space for work training education and rehabilitation programmes. The reality is that there are no commitments in respect of these matters. What we have is a prison that will detain asylum seekers, that will close down the Dóchas women's prison and that will imprison minors in a prison designed for adults. It will incarcerate the mentally ill because of the transfer of the Central Mental Hospital, which is against all representations and professional advice given to the Minister.

For these reasons, we have difficulties with this proposal. We support the construction of a modern prison complex but we believe that, before this Act is passed, the Minister should outline the prison policy to be pursued in this new prison. We need assurance that it will not be a repetition of the past or a continuation of existing prison policy which is a dismal failure. The reality is that there are drugs in our prisons. If a drug-free person comes into prison he will invariably leave prison a drug addict. That is the most obvious test of the failure of current prison policy.

A comprehensive programme of rehabilitation must be outlined. Not only do we need the space, we also need evidence that the programmes will be implemented and funded properly. There should be education and training, integrated sentence management and a comprehensive drug detoxification programme. These are the prerequisites for effective prison policy.

We have received no comfort from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform regarding these matters, nor any commitments or assurances. When dealing with this project, it is incumbent on the Minister to establish how prison policy will be administered in what is intended to be a modern complex with facilities of an international standard, as opposed to the appalling standard of accommodation in prisons such as Mountjoy, which poses a risk to prisoners and the administration of effective prison policy. It is for these reasons that Fine Gael has difficulty endorsing the proposal outlined by the Minister.