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Prison Accommodation.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2004

Wednesday, 5 May 2004

Questions (170)

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

167 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for the provision of custodial places; if sufficient places exist in view of recent closures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12917/04]

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Written answers

The provision of approximately 1,300 new prison spaces in recent years, at considerable cost, has put the Prison Service in a much better position to accommodate prisoners for the duration of their sentences than was the case during the revolving door era of the 1990s. However, with most of our prisons operating at or near full capacity, some accommodation difficulties occur from time to time. It should also be noted that this issue is not simply one of matching the global prisoner population to a global figure for beds or cells. A number of factors have to be taken into account including the prisoner's age, gender, the nature of the offence, location, security and whether they are on remand or sentenced.

I recently announced that I am contemplating the building of two major prison developments, one on a greenfield site in the greater Dublin area and the other on Spike Island, County Cork. It is intended that these new facilities will address the overcrowding difficulties that arise from time to time and they will offer significant improvements in the areas of work, training, educational and medical services for inmates as well as predominantly single cell accommodation with proper in-cell sanitation facilities.

I would like to point out that any shortage of prison spaces is not as a direct result of the forced mothballing of the places of detention at Fort Mitchell and the Curragh. Overall, these two institutions had a capacity of 204 spaces — 102 each. The recent opening of a new wing in Limerick Prison has fully offset the loss of Fort Mitchell. The lost capacity in the case of the Curragh place of detention, has been approximately 80% offset by the bringing into operation of previously unused spaces in the Midlands Prison. In fact, there are more prisoners in custody today than there were immediately prior to closure of the two sites.

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