John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prison cells in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, that house more prisoners than their capacity is designed for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19440/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The breakdown of cell capacity for Mountjoy is outlined in the following table.

Overcrowding in prisons is an international problem, not just unique to Ireland. As the Deputy is aware Mountjoy Prison is a Victorian prison which is now 160 years old. While Mountjoy Prison predominantly comprises single cell accommodation, multiple cell occupancy does exist, particularly in the base area of the prison and some other areas.

In the context of seeking to address the problems of overcrowding in the prison system, redeveloping the existing 20 acre site is neither financially viable nor practical from an operational perspective and this is why I have set out in the clearest possible terms this Governments continued commitment to replacing the Mountjoy Prison complex with modern prison accommodation at Thornton Hall.

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.