Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 Mar 1994

Vol. 440 No. 6

Written Answers. - Castlerea (Roscommon) Prison.

Noel Ahern

Question:

79 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice if the decision to open a prison in Castlerea, County Roscommon, is part of her drive against crime; if this decision is part of the Government's commitment to bring jobs to the west in view of the fact that various reports speak of 150 prisoners to be housed in Castlerea, County Roscommon and 1,000 jobs created; the normal ratio between inmates and staff; the estimated cost of the refurbishment work; and the cost of a similar prison built on a green field site.

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn)

The provision of a new closed prison for 150 adult male offenders, to be located at St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea, County Roscommon, is an integral part of my comprehensive law and order package announced in December last. The decision to locate the prison in Castlerea is in line with the Government's commitment to a decentralisation of State services and is also a measure of its commitment to the socio-economic development of the west.

Pending design of the new facility and consultations in regard to the categories of prisoners to be accommodated and the regime of the prison, it is not possible to indicate precisely the number of prison staff that will be required to operate it. However, the overall ratio of prison staff to offenders in the Prison Service is about one to one and it is expected that the staffing for the new prison will be within this ratio. In addition to prison staff, jobs will, of course, be created for the duration of the major building works associated with the adaptation of the hospital for use as a prison. Furthermore, arising from the influx of new permanent Prison Service staff to Castlerea, there will undoubtedly be generation of employment downstream in the local economy.

While it is not possible at this early stage to give a precise indication of the cost of converting St. Patrick's Hospital into a prison facility, the preliminary estimates indicate that these would be of the same order as the cost of constructing an equivalent facility on a green field site.