Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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211. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a final decision has been taken on the use of the former Mountjoy prison training unit as a facility for older prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52670/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service has commenced planning for the repurposing of the Training Unit Place of Detention (on the Mountjoy Prison Campus) to a dedicated Unit for older prisoners.

A key action of the current Irish Prison Service Strategic Plan (Action 2.5) is to ensure that older prisoners are identified as a specific group who have particular needs within the prison population. There are currently a number of such prisoners in the care of the Irish Prison Service who have significant and ongoing healthcare needs, many of whom are currently dispersed across the estate and in some cases significant distances away from the healthcare providers they rely on.

The establishment of the unit will allow the Irish Prison Service to accommodate such prisoners in an adapted unit within close proximity to a variety of medical care facilities. 

It is envisaged that the repurposing of the unit will take between 12 to 18 months to complete. As such it is the intention of the Irish Prison Service that this facility will open for older prisoners in 2019.