Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to advise the Deputy that the Governor referred to in his question has, in fact, retired from the prison service and has not resigned as he has stated.

On 10 May, 2010 there were 4,214 persons in custody compared to a bed capacity of 4,066.

The Irish Prison Service has been engaged in an extensive programme of investment in prisons infrastructure which has involved both the modernisation of the existing estate and the provision of extra prison spaces. Since 1997 in excess of 1,720 new prison spaces have come on stream in the prison system. These include the new prisons in Castlerea, the Midlands, Cloverhill, the Dóchas Centre and new accommodation in Limerick, Portlaoise and Castlerea prisons and at the open centres in Shelton Abbey and Loughan House.

Current projects will see a further 200 prison spaces provided in the short term by means of a new block in Wheatfield.

In addition, we hope to proceed in late 2010 with a new accommodation block in the Portlaoise/Midlands prisons complex which will provide 300 prison spaces in the medium term.

The Deputy will also be aware of the Government's commitment to developing a new prison campus at Thornton Hall, County Dublin. The new prison campus will have approximately 1,400 cells on a 130 acre site. The new prison facility will have operational flexibility to accommodate up to 2,200 in a range of security settings.

The development is now proceeding on a phased basis with phase one comprising essential enabling works required for the development including the construction of the dedicated access road, perimeter wall and off-site services. Tenders for the construction of the access road were published in March of this year and tenders for the construction of the perimeter wall will be published in September.

Phase 2 will include the development of the main prison campus. The detailed appraisal is underway in accordance with Department of Finance Capital Expenditure Guidelines and the new business case is at an advanced stage of preparation.

The Dochas Centre, which accommodates the majority of female prisoners in Ireland, was purpose built and specifically designed for women and is recognised internationally as a model of best practice with extensive rehabilitative programmes and courses available for the female prisoners accommodated there. However, since the facility was opened it regularly accommodates prisoner numbers in excess of its design capacity. Accordingly, the Irish Prison Service introduced contingency measures including the installation of bunk beds - to alleviate the practice of women sleeping on mattresses on floors. These contingency measures were discussed with the Governor at the time.

In the medium term, work is due to commence on converting an administrative building on the Dochas site into a new accommodation block. This will provide 30 rooms with sufficient area to double up if required and is due to be completed by August/September, 2010.

In the long term the Dochas Centre is to be replaced by a new women's prison at the prison development at Thornton Hall, Co Dublin. This will provide accommodation for approximately 200 women. The design will be based on the concept of single room occupancy, will allow for the separation of sentenced and non-sentenced offenders and will afford a greater opportunity of enhanced regimes thus allowing for greater flexibility.