Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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148. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide an update on the old Cork Prison site; and the work that has taken place to consider using the site for housing, community use and respecting and preserving the history of the area. [40558/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The former Cork Prison ceased to operate as an operational prison in February 2016 following the opening of a new facility on a site adjacent to the old prison. Following the transfer of operations to the new facility, the former prison facility was closed and decommissioned and has remained unused over the past 8 years.

Following the closure a number of statutory and non-statutory groups considered the site for potential use. The site was included as a potential location for social and affordable housing in the Land Development Agency's Report to Government on Relevant Public Land/Sites and the Irish Prison Service had a formal engagement with the LDA on the potential use of the site in March 2023. I am advised that the site is not being considered for use as social and affordable housing at this time.

In addition, there was interest expressed locally in using the site for community use however, I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that no formal proposal was submitted to the Service for consideration and therefore this option has not been progressed.

With the continued pressure on prisoner numbers across the prison estate, the site of the former prison at Cork has been identified as a possible location for additional prisoner accommodation and therefore the location remains of strategic interest to the Irish Prison Service. In this regard a feasibility study has been commissioned on the facilities potential for use in the short, medium and longer term and the outcome of this is currently being reviewed.