Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the contract price agreed for the new prison site at Thorntown, County Dublin represents good value and best use of taxpayers' money; his plans for the existing facilities at Mountjoy; the details of the feasibility of constructing a new prison at Mountjoy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5081/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The contract signed for the purchase of the 150 acre site at Thornton Hall, The Ward, County Dublin, for the replacement of Mountjoy Prison cost €29.9 million, or just under €200,000 per acre. Land owners were invited by public advertisement to put forward suitable sites for sale in the greater Dublin area. The average asking price of land owners who responded to that advertisement was above €200,000 per acre and some owners sought as much as €500,000 per acre.

Although more than 30 sites were examined only about five were deemed to be suitable for consideration as a site for the new prison facility. Although price was not the sole determining factor, the purchase price of the site finally selected was lower than the asking price for any of the other suitable sites.

I have no indication from the Office of Public Works or CB Richard Ellis Gunne, who were involved in the process, that the price paid could be regarded as exorbitant. I am satisfied that the price was reasonable and represents an excellent long-term investment for the taxpayer.

The Mountjoy complex will be kept in operation until the new complex has been completed. After it has been emptied, it is my intention that the entire Mountjoy site would be put on the market for redevelopment. It is not operationally or economically feasible to construct a full scale new prison on the Mountjoy site and in any event the range of facilities that could be provided for prisoners on such a small site is extremely limited. A large number of prisoners would have to be transferred to other prisons during the construction work but there is no spare capacity in the system to allow this.

The issue of redeveloping Mountjoy was looked at by a group established by my predecessor and chaired by governor John Lonergan. Its report published in February 2001 contained a number of specific proposals and recommendations for the future development and use of the Mountjoy complex. The proposed development would have provided a maximum of 723 places in addition to the female prison. An estimate, prepared by a firm of surveyors on behalf of the OPW in June 2001, of the capital cost of construction of the proposed development came to a total of €336 million.

I have been advised that the current estimate is that it would now cost over €400 million and take seven years to complete the development of Mountjoy as envisaged by that group — a significant multiple of the cost for the development of a prison on a greenfield site. This level of expenditure on redeveloping Mountjoy cannot be justified.