Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding the proposed Thornton Hall prison plan; the latest estimate available to him of the expected cost, including the cost of the site, the provision of infrastructure and ancillary services, and the cost of construction and fitting out of the prison; the costs incurred to date; the estimated date for the commencement and the completion of the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32848/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Negotiations are currently underway with a commercial consortium, which was selected following an E.U. tender procedure as the preferred tender for the design, construction, finance and maintenance of the proposed prison facilities at Thornton Hall, North County Dublin. The project includes the construction of the prison facilities along with the ancillary infrastructure including services. Development consent for the project was granted by the Oireachtas in June 2008 and signed into law by the President on 2 July, 2008.

It is not appropriate, for commercial and procurement reasons, to provide details as to the likely costs of the construction and fit out costs. In particular it would not be in the public interest to give an indication of expected costs before a bid is accepted and a contract finalised. The disclosure of such information is, in any event, not allowed under Department of Finance guidelines applicable to Public Private Partnership.

I can, however, confirm the following expenditure which has taken place to date on the project. The cost of the site acquisition was €29,900,000. An additional 8.7 acres has also been acquired to provide a dedicated access road to the main site. This was done following representations from the local community which reflected concern in relation to the effect of increased traffic generated by the prison project. In addition to allaying these concerns, the new roadway will provide significant additional benefits both during the construction and operational phases of the project. The cost of this additional land was €1,305,000.

A total of €8,626,391 has been expended to date on preliminary site works including surveys, landscaping, security and maintenance of the property, studies such as archaeological, topographical, etc., and professional fees including legal and specialist technical advice. It is intended, subject to the successful conclusion of the contract negotiations, to commence construction early next year. It is envisaged that the development will take approximately three years to complete.