Written Answers. - Prison Accommodation.
Eoin Ryan
Ceist:
52
Mr. E. Ryan
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the progress, if any, he is making in relation to the provision of 1,000 extra prison spaces in the first two years in office of the Government as outlined in An Action Programme for the Millennium; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15345/98]
G. V. Wright
Ceist:
61
Mr. Wright
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the progress, if any, made to date in relation to the provision of prison places at Castlerea place of detention, County Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15362/98]
G. V. Wright
Ceist:
64
Mr. Wright
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the progress, if any, made in relation to the provision of a remand prison at Wheatfield, Dublin; when it is expected that places will come on stream at the prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15363/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 61, and 64 together.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to provide 1,000 additional prison places within two years. I am pleased to confirm that work on the provision of these places is well advanced and that the commitment will be met.
The new 152 place Castlerea place of detention was taken over by my Department in May and prisoners are being transferred there on a phased basis from the other institutions. A new 60 place block at Limerick Prison, which was completed earlier this year, is now in operation.
The construction of a new remand prison at Cloverhill adjacent to the existing place of detention at Wheatfield is due to be completed by the end of this year and an additional 400 places will become available at that time.
The new female prison at Mountjoy, which will hold 80 prisoners, will be completed by the end of this year. Work has also commenced on the construction of a new 400 place prison at Portlaoise. This prison will be completed in August 1999 and will also include a special 40 place unit intended for the management of disruptive and other difficult categories of prisoners.
In addition to the above programme of works, preliminary planning for examining a number of options aimed at providing further additional prison accommodation has been commenced in my Department.
The extensive programme of works outlined above, which amounts to a total of 1,092 additional prison places, demonstrates my commitment to eliminating the acute shortage of prison accommodation which has been a major problem for some time now. The commitment included in the programme for Government will be, exceeded, as shown in the programme which I have outlined above.
