Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the House. The redevelopment of Cork Prison is a very important and welcome initiative, not least because it will end the practice of slopping out which has heretofore been in operation at the facility. As the Minister of State observed, the existing prison was built to accommodate just under 150 prisoners but has consistently had to house in excess of that number. During my time on Cork City Council - I am going back seven or eight years here - there were many nights when the number reached 170 or even 180. I have been to Cork Prison on several occasions, both in a legal capacity and in my capacity as lord mayor of Cork. In fact, it is one of the functions of the lord mayor to have breakfast in the prison on Christmas morning. It brings one down to earth very fast to see there are people for whom Christmas is not at all a joyful occasion.

The condition of the existing facility could not be tolerated much longer. I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, for his efforts in advancing these proposals, and the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, who represents the constituency in which the prison will be built. It is the right move in terms of accommodating the prisoner population in Cork and the larger south Munster region. I hope we can deal with all Stages of the Bill tonight in order to avoid any unnecessary delay in the construction process. The site has been identified, there has been consultation with local residents and some of their concerns have been taken on board. That consultation process was most welcome. I also welcome the clearly set out building programme, which specifies that the perimeter wall will be erected before proceeding with construction of the facility itself. That will help to reduce noise levels once the main construction work begins.
The Minister of State referred to the importance of providing supports for people. I have been involved in issues relating to Cork Prison since as far back as 1996, when Colm O'Herlihy, head of education at the facility, introduced an educational training scheme which involved 20 prisoners and their partners participating at the same time. Of the 20 prisoners who took part, 12 returned to full-time education after their release. Improving conditions in prisons is one issue, but it is also important to consider what happens when people leave prison. During my time as lord mayor I often had complaints from prison officers in Cork Prison that the overcrowding problem was leading to a situation where prisoners were being released in a chaotic and disorganised way. The officers were often required to bring back a contingent of prisoners from District Court sittings a long distance from Cork. The prison van might not leave the court until the last case was dealt with, which often meant in rural areas and even in Waterford, for example, that it might not depart until 6 p.m and would only arrive at Cork Prison at 8 p.m. or so. With the arrival of the new prisoners, inmates who were next on the list to be released would have to be let go at that late time in the evening, without any prior notice or any provision for their accommodation. That is unacceptable. We must ensure there is a process in place to ease prisoners back into normal life. It is not easy for anybody to return to the outside world, even if they have only been in prison for six months. There is a significant adjustment period, especially for long-term prisoners. We have a great deal of work to do in this area.

It is important these proposals are implemented without delay. The debate has gone on long enough. We have been talking about it in Cork for at least 18 years. We must do our part to ensure the Bill progresses through the Houses, so that the Minister and the Prison Service can proceed with the tender and construction processes. The target completion date is early 2016 and I hope it is met. At a time when the construction industry is in difficulty, this project presents an opportunity for significant job creation. The sooner it is up and running the better. I realise that several processes must be gone through before building work can commence, but we should aim to have it begin by the end of this year and to achieve the target completion date of January 2016. I thank the Minister of State for bringing the Bill to the House and the Minister, Deputy Shatter, for progressing it through his Department. I also appreciate the input from the Prison Service. I fully support the Bill.