Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 February 2025
574. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice to provide details of the empty buildings, by county, in his Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the length of time they have lain empty; and the physical status of each building, in tabular form. [6235/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra575. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice to provide details of undeveloped sites, by county, in his Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the length of time they have lain undeveloped; and the reason for the lack of development, in tabular form. [6253/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 574 and 575 together.
My Department owns three properties that are currently vacant - a house on the land at Thornton Hall in Kilsallaghan, Co. Dublin, the old Cork Prison site and Westview House in Cork City.
The Westview House property in Cork City is under the Probation Service and has been largely vacant since 2019 apart from some ad hoc use to conduct remote interviews for international protection. An independent valuation of the property was undertaken in September 2024 which valued the property at €1.6 million.
The old Cork Prison site consists of a number of buildings including prisoner accommodation blocks, some of which date back to the 19th Century, a work and training area and staff mess. The facility closed in 2016 following the transfer of prisoners to a new facility built on a site adjacent to the former prison. The facility is in a very poor physical state and unsuitable for use in its current form. There is no current valuation of the site independent of the new prison.
The 160 acre site at Thornton Hall was purchased by the State in January 2005 for a new prison development that did not proceed at that time. A new Working Group has been established to consider future prison capacity needs and to make recommendations on the numbers and types of prison capacity needed out to 2035. This group will also make recommendations on the future use of the site at Thornton Hall. The Department of Justice has made the Thornton Hall site available to other agencies while retaining some of the site for any future prison needs.
The most recent valuation of the Thornton site was carried out in 2022 and valued the site at €6.5M based on its current agricultural use and includes the valuation of the Thornton Hall house at €800,000. The site at Thornton Hall has been used by a farmer in recent years and a portion of the site is currently being developed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to accommodate people applying for International Protection. Responsibility for international protection accommodation will, in the coming months, return to a newly titled Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. More information in relation to this project can be found at the following link - https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/3c8dc-thornton-hall/.
