Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his views that there will be an increase in the Justice Capital Investment Programme after 12 months time; the basis for his revisiting the timeframe for delivery of Thornton Hall prison in 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34998/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The capital allocation to the Justice sector for 2012 is €56 million. The largest single allocation of this, €24.1million, will be allocated to the Prisons Service and spent on the prisons building programme. Despite the challenging economic climate, it is my intention to use a large portion of these funds to improve the situation in our prisons.

This Government remains committed to addressing overcrowding and poor physical conditions within the prison estate. Whilst the reduced capital envelope this year will not allow the Prison Service to proceed with the construction of Thornton Hall or Kilworth prisons, this does not signal a reversal of the Government's decision earlier this year to approve in principle the recommendations contained in the Thornton Hall Review Group Report. It has been necessary to defer the commencement of these projects but the Deputy can be assured that it is my strong intention to revisit the timeframe for their delivery in 12 months time.

In the meantime, within its 2012 capital allocation, work will continue on the completion of a new 300 space prison wing in the Midlands Prison. It is expected that these spaces will be fully commissioned by mid 2012. The refurbishment and in-cell sanitation project in Mountjoy Prison will also continue. The upgrade of the C Division of the prison is close to completion and will very much improve the existing physical conditions, including the provision of in-cell sanitation and the upgrading of fire safety and detection systems. It is also intended to undertake a similar renovation of the B Division in the prison. This will result in 317 cells in Mountjoy prison having in-cell sanitation by the end of that year, almost 60% of the total prison.

The Irish Prison Service also intends to complete a number of infrastructural works to which it is already committed including the development of key prison related IT projects, the upgrading of fire detection systems and the enhancement of CCTV security systems.