Vol. 520 No. 3
46 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the basis on which he believes that an additional 700 closed prison places will be required; if his attention has been drawn to criticism of the plan made by the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the probation and welfare branch of IMPACT; the estimated cost of providing the additional places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15430/00]
I have recently obtained Government approval for the construction of a further 700 closed prison spaces with support facilities. This Government has made funding available on an unprecedented scale to redress the inadequacy of investment in the past in this area. I am honouring the Government's pledge to build new prison places and refurbish our existing prisons, many of which are 150 years old. The extra places are required due to a multiplicity of factors including the following issues.
Sex Offences – The continued growth in reporting rates both for recent sex offences and child abuse offences from the past has resulted in an unprecedented number of court cases. In turn, increasingly lengthy prison sentences for offenders in this category are being imposed by the courts.
Temporary Release – A requirement to continue to reduce numbers on unstructured temporary release arising from shedding prisoners to make way for new committals from the courts.
The Bail Act, 1997 – expected increase in numbers in custody on a daily basis. There is a consensus from practitioners in the criminal justice area that this will significantly increase the prisoner population in the short to medium term.
