asked the Minister for Justice if prisoners to be detained in Wheatfield prison, County Dublin will be long or short-term prisoners and if he will make a statement on the matter.
12.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Dublin Prison.
11.
asked the Minister for Justice if he intends proceeding with the building of an additional prison at Clondalkin; and if so, the categories of prisoners which will be detained at this location.
(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 12 together.
It is intended to locate a place of detention for 320 male juveniles and a prison for 144, in which it is intended to accommodate women and girls, on separately enclosed adjoining sites at Wheatfield, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. The accommodation will be available for persons serving long and short terms.
The place of detention will consist of 20 units, each intended to accommodate 16 persons. The prison will consist of 12 units, six for ten persons and six for 14 persons. These arrangements will permit the separation of the persons in custody by reference to various categories.
Construction of the place of detention commenced in September, 1984 and is due for completion in 1987. As regards the prison, tender documents have been prepared by the Office of Public Works and tenders can be invited when resources permit.
Originally it was stated that this was intended to be a female prison with accommodation also for some young persons. Was that the intention at the time and was that altered as a result of recent developments in the crime area, or was that an effort to overcome the opposition which existed in the area to the new prison? Was there a new design drawn up for the prison in the meantime?
(Limerick East): The Deputy must have misunderstood me. I reaffirmed what was the original intention. I said it is intended to locate a place of detention for 320 male juveniles, young males, and then a prison for 144 to accommodate women and girls because obviously the women's prison in Mountjoy is not satisfactory.
May I have confirmation of what "male juveniles" means? Is this on the lines of St. Patrick's or——
(Limerick East): Yes.
Does that mean that the people from St. Patrick's would be moving out to the new prison, that that would be closed?
(Limerick East): There are various ways in which one can use accommodation. The intention would be that it would be used for males from 16 to 21, like St. Patrick's. As Deputies are aware, the Department of Education are responsible for people committed to custody who are under 16 years of age. Despite repeated newspaper reports that the Department of Justice have an involvement in the school in Lusk, they have not; that is a Department of Education institute solely under the control of the Department of Education. Then for the age group 16 to 21, there are places like St. Patrick's or Shanganagh, and then the more general prisons after that. I cannot at present say what will be the situation in 1987, whether we would be in a position to close down parts of St. Patrick's for refurbishment purposes or whether we would be better closing down St. Patrick's and Mountjoy for rebuilding and refurbishment. It is in that kind of area that the development will take place.
The Minister referred to both long and short term. What would be the longest term prisoner in the juvenile category, the 16 to 21 age group? What would long term mean in that category?
(Limerick East): It is a fairly loose expression. It is normally used when talking about terms of imprisonment imposed on conviction by the District Court, which could impose a maximum sentence of 12 months until the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act, but it can now on consecutive sentences impose two years. Long term prisoner would be prisoners would be prisoners serving anything up to life imprisonment.
In planning the prison for women did the Minister's Department take into consideration the very low number of women prisoners and the low level of serious crime for which women are imprisoned? Will the planning of such a unit for women take into consideration that it should be a rehabilitating unit rather than a traditional prison? What priority will be given to the building of the women's prison considering the unacceptable conditions that exist in Mountjoy.
(Limerick East): There are women prisoners in a wing in Limerick prison and in the womens prison in Mountjoy. The accommodation in Limerick is very good and some women prisoners serving long sentences are imprisoned there. There are educational and rehabilitating facilities there, including third level educational facilities for some of the prisoners. The situation in Mountjoy is different. The physical accommodation in Mountjoy was very bad but a refurbishing programme is almost at an end and the accommodation has been improved a lot, although it is certainly not up to the standard of modern prisons in Arbour Hill, Cork and so on.
The Deputy may be aware that an announcement was made today by my Department that a building which was intended for the use of single prison officers in Portlaoise is not being used and will be taken over by my Department for custodial purposes. We are trying to decide whether to use it for the rehabilitation of prisoners with problems such as alcoholism or for women because the accommodation is very good and it would require approximately one month's work to put a secure fence around it. On the question of the women's prison in Wheatfield, a design has been completed by the Office of Public Works and it is the lack of resources which will stop it going ahead at the moment. The Deputy is correct in saying that there is space there for 144 women prisoners and that the number of women prisoners is much less than that.