Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I welcome the opportunity to debate this Bill. Senator Boyle has already spoken about the prison at Thornton Hall in the Seanad several weeks ago. He made it clear that the Green Party has qualms about the location of this prison. We accept a decision has been made and we are prepared to live with it. We agree there is a need for a new prison and we are very aware of the Victorian conditions in Mountjoy, the unacceptable practices of slopping out, the substandard accommodation and so on. We recognise there is a need for a new prison and we welcome that this prison will have state-of-the-art facilities. It will accommodate 1,400 prisoners and an especially welcome feature of the prison is single cell occupancy, which will be a major improvement. The Minister of State also mentioned that if necessary, the cells could take double occupancy and the numbers accommodated by the prison could rise to 2,200. However, it is envisaged that single cell occupancy would be maintained and the numbers kept below 1,400.

I welcome other planning decisions, such as the provision of a dedicated bus service to the prison. I also welcome the provision of work training facilities, a library, health care facilities, a gym and a playing field. All of these definitely should form part of any modern, state-of-the-art prison.

I am glad to hear that Ireland remains one of the EU member states with the lowest rates of imprisonment. I hope that situation is maintained and that the emphasis in our criminal justice system will be to look for alternatives to incarceration. We are all very aware of the problems that arise regarding incarceration and recidivism. We should always be looking constructively at policies that avoid these problems.

The Minister of State spoke about the detention of non-nationals, which is a very important issue. He said that the facilities at Thornton Hall will be such that people detained for immigration control reasons would be accommodated separately from remand or sentenced prisoners, in line with best international practice. I must say that best international practice would dictate that it is not a good idea to locate asylum seekers in the same location as those who are incarcerated for serious crimes. The Green Party is very concerned about the proposed location of the reception centre for people seeking asylum status at the Thornton Hall site.

Ireland has a long history of emigration. If Ellis Island had been a detention centre in its day, we would be very disturbed that some of our ancestors were held in close proximity to criminals. They were only trying to escape very difficult circumstances in this country and looking for opportunities elsewhere, just like the immigrants who come to Ireland today. I have no difficulty with the idea of detention centres and of processing the claims of these people, but locating them on the same campus as a major new prison is something we should reconsider.

Like many other Senators, I have been lobbied about local issues at Thornton Hall. Local residents need roads and footpaths in the area upgraded. They also want to ensure the visual impact of the prison perimeter would be minimised, that construction activity would only occur between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and would not occur on Sundays. They are concerned about the existing proposals for the emergency exit, which is located in a densely populated area. The name of the prison is also an issue, as residents would rather a more neutral name than that of the local area.

A local liaison group will be established immediately prior to the commencement of construction. It will involve residents, the Irish Prison Service, building contractors and Fingal County Council and will hold monthly meetings. It is good practice that the State is involved in any new development so I ask the Minister of State to consider it.