asked the Minister for Justice the present position regarding doors which were ordered by his Department for utilisation in the context of Portlaoise prison houses; the total cost; the reason they were never used; the reason it was necessary to have them made abroad; if a mistake was made in the specifications of the doors; to what use it is now intended to put them; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Portlaoise Prison Doors.
17.
The doors in question do not relate to official accommodation for prison service personnel in Portlaoise. They relate to a new prison affording a high level of security, planned for Portlaoise.
The decision to provide the new prison was taken in 1978. By 1981 planning and preparation work had reached the stage where an advance order had to be placed for steel cell doors of a particular specification. This was to ensure that the doors would be available when required on site for incorporation into the new prison building. No mistake was made in the specification for the doors. They were required to be tamper-resistant and to be electrically operated and monitored. Markets at home and abroad were explored before the order was placed with the one firm whose product, at the time, according to the professional advice given to my Department, met the quite complex specifications which were stipulated. The doors cost £395,000.
In the absence of the necessary financial provision in 1982 and subsequently (priority being given to the Wheatfield project) the Portlaoise high level security prison project has not proceeded. The cell doors are stored for future use.
It would not have been appropriate to use the cell doors purchased for Portlaoise in Wheatfield, because they were engineered for a high security prison and would be far in excess of the custodial and security requirements for a place of detention like Wheatfield.