Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding the proposed prison at Thornton Hall, County Dublin; the amount spent on the project to date, including the cost of the purchase of the site, preparatory work, professional fees and any other costs; when it is expected that building work on the project will commence; when it is expected to be completed and operational; the planned capacity of the prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40136/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The new prison campus at Thornton Hall, County Dublin will have a design capacity of 1,400 with operational flexibility to accommodate up to 2,200 offenders in a range of security settings. The revised plan for the new prison campus aims to protect the taxpayers' interests and provide good quality, regime focused accommodation and programmes to prepare offenders for reintegration back into society, on a scale that cannot currently be delivered at Mountjoy Prison.

The development is proceeding on a phased basis with phase one comprising essential preliminary works required for the prison development including the construction of a dedicated access route, perimeter wall and related services. The tender documentation and scope of works for this phase of the project is well advanced. It is anticipated that the preliminary works tender documentation will be issued to the market early in the New Year. While the essential preliminary work in phase one is in progress the procurement process for the buildings and other facilities that will make up the new prison campus will be examined and finalised in accordance with Department of Finance public procurement guidelines. The objective is to complete the procurement process for the main prison complex while the construction of phase one work is underway.

The development of the new prison campus at Thornton Hall is a complex project which is governed by Department of Finance and EU procurement guidelines. These guidelines set out a range of actions that must take place prior to inviting tender for the project. The Irish Prison Service with the assistance of the National Development Finance Agency are in the process of finalising the various preparatory steps prior to inviting tenders for the construction of the prison. It is intended to issue the tender documentation for the construction of the prison next year. Construction and fitting out of the prison will take two to three years from the date of signature of a contract.

In relation to expenditure on the project a total of €41.9 million has been expended on the project end October, 2009. This sum includes site cost of €29.9 million. The cost of the site was largely offset by the sale of surplus prison lands at Shanganagh, County Dublin. An additional 8.7 acres has also been acquired at a cost of €1.3m to provide a dedicated access route to the prison. This was done following representations from the local community which reflected concern in relation to effect of increased traffic generated by the prison development.

A total of €10.7 million has been expended on professional fees (€7 million), site preparation and surveys (€2.8m), landscaping (€0.4 million) and security (€0.5 million). As is the case with all major infrastructure projects a comprehensive set of geological, engineering and archaeological surveys have been undertaken and these surveys will help to reduce the overall construction programme once a contract for the construction of the prison is awarded.