Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he is satisfied regarding the capacity of the preferred bidder to deliver the Thornton Hall prison project; the progress that has been made on the project since the enactment of the Prison Development (Confirmation of Regulations) Act 2008; the estimated date for the commencement and the completion of the project; the estimated cost of the project, including the cost of acquiring the site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40199/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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It is the responsibility of the commercial consortium, under the PPP process, to arrange the funding and other resources to deliver the project and to have them in place when the contract is signed. It is not appropriate, for commercial and procurement reasons, for me to comment on the specific financial funding aspects of the PPP contract negotiations which are currently in progress. I can say, however, that if the current contract negotiations are not successfully concluded there are other tenderers and other options which can still be considered.

Since the enactment of the Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Act, 2008 the Irish Prison Service, along with its technical advisors and the National Development Finance Agency has focused on progressing the Negotiation Phase of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) process with Leargas, the preferred tenderer, across financial, technical and legal aspects of the project. This involved the continuation of the design development of the project and contract negotiations to enable the Irish Prison Service to contract with the PPP Co and commence construction of the new prison development.

Negotiations with the preferred tenderer are at an advanced stage. However, they have not yet been completed to the point at which the contract can be signed. I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it is anticipated that it will be the first quarter of 2009 before contract award will be achieved. This timeframe is subject, of course, to the successful conclusion of the contract negotiations.

The Thornton Hall project is a complex Public Private Partnership Project which involves the construction of more than 30 buildings, including 8 prison facilities on the site, a major internal road network, extensive perimeter security and a vast array of security systems both physical and electronic. Whilst it had been hoped to sign a contract with the preferred bidder before now there has been much more extensive public consultation surrounding the publication of the Environmental Impact Assessment and consideration of the development by the Oireachtas.

Pressures on the international financial markets have the potential to impact on all major capital projects. The Irish Prison Service is being advised by the National Development Finance Agency in relation to trends and developments in this area.

The construction timeframe for the new prison facilities is approximately three years from the date of award of contract.

The cost of the acquisition of the site for the prison development was €29.9 million. 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. The cost of this additional land was €1.3 million.

A total of €8.6 million 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 not appropriate, for commercial and procurement reasons, to provide details as to the likely costs of the construction. 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.