Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 May 2023
489. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the amount of capital funding being made available for his commitment to build over 400 new prison spaces at Castlerea, Cloverhill, the Midlands and Mountjoy prisons in the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22573/23]
View answerThe Irish Prison Service is committed to providing safe, secure and respectful care for all of those committed to custody. As part of fulfilling this commitment, Government continues to invest significantly in the capital development of the prison estate. This includes building new accommodation and investing in the refurbishment of existing facilities. In recent years, works have been completed to modernise the Mountjoy complex, a new prison was constructed in Cork and additional prisoner accommodation was provided in the Midlands Prison.
Last summer, the Training Unit in Mountjoy was reopened, providing an additional 96 spaces. The opening of new male accommodation in Limerick in late 2022 provided an additional 90 cell spaces and a new standalone female prison in Limerick will provide 22 additional female cell spaces when it opens later this year. In total this is in excess of 200 new spaces.
In addition to the investment already made in the prison estate, the Department of Justice and officials in the Irish Prisons Service continue to work together to identify short, medium and longer term proposals to help manage capacity in our prisons.
I also approved a number of measures aimed at reducing capacity pressures in the system. These include broadening the eligibility criteria for the Community Return and the Community Support Schemes; amending criteria for considering Temporary Release; and expediting the Department of Justice's review of sentence remission.
Just recently, I brought a Memo for the Information of Government outlining the capacity issues facing the Irish Prison Service – both in terms of the scale of the problems already faced and the medium and longer-term solutions that might be advanced to address them.
Officials in my Department and the Irish Prisons Service have identified four short-term capital projects that could deliver over 400 prison spaces across the existing prison estate over the next 5 years. This would provide accommodation for a minimum of 620 additional prisoners. Initially I am looking to progress developments at Castlerea and Cloverhill Prisons and while initial costing exercises have been undertaken, funding requirements will be determined on the completion of the detailed design brief. As the Deputy will be aware, the project will proceed subject to the requirements of the public spending code.
In the meantime, let me assure the Deputy that the need to ensure the availability of modern prison facilities with adequate capacity will continue to be the focus of capital planning by my Department and the Irish Prisons Service.
