Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps he has taken and will take to get Cloverhill Prison's educational facility up and running; and the discussions he has had with the prison service on the matter. [3524/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether it is acceptable that Cloverhill Prison's educational facility has remained unused for two years; and the discussions he has had with the prison service on the matter. [3522/06]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 64: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the fact that the prisoner transport escort corps have been operating out of Cloverhill Prison's educational facility thereby preventing the facilities used by prisoners; and the discussions he has had with the prison service on the matter. [3526/06]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether the failure to get Cloverhill Prison's educational facility up and running demonstrates his lack of commitment to rehabilitation; and the discussions he has had with the prison service on the matter. [3528/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27, 56, 64 and 65 together.

I am informed by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that construction of the Cloverhill education unit commenced in 2002 and was virtually completed in 2003. The unit comprises a physical education section and six classrooms — one for art-craft, an open learning centre, a computer classroom and three general classrooms to cater for literacy, numeracy, English for speakers of other languages, ESOL, and general subjects. An allocation of approximately eight wholetime-equivalent teachers to staff the new unit has also been arranged with the Department of Education and Science.

The physical education section of the new unit has been brought partially into operation and is used daily by prisoners up to the present. However, it was not possible to commission the general education section of the unit pending the outcome of negotiations with the Prison Officers' Association, POA, on revised working arrangements in the Prison Service. Agreement has since been reached with the POA on the change agenda and the new working arrangements are currently being rolled out across the prison system.

A key feature of the new working arrangements is the introduction of a new prisoner transport escort corps. Essentially, this is a dedicated corps of staff whose task is to escort prisoners to-from court in new cellular vehicles, thus eliminating the need to resort to overtime working as had been the practice heretofore. As a temporary measure, the prisoner transport escort corps is operating from a section of the unit pending the completion of new accommodation for the corps. It is currently envisaged that this new accommodation will be completed by the second quarter of this year at which time the general education section of the unit will be opened.