Fine Gael Cork TD Deirdre Clune has been told by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that the planned new prison for Cork will not proceed until the new Dublin prison at Thornton Hall is under construction.

In 2006 the Government made a decision to transfer ownership of the site for the new Cork Prison in Kilworth from the Department of Defence to the Department of Justice. However, even this preliminary step has not been taken. Instead of action we have had three years of delay from the Government.

When Brian Purcell, the Director General of the Irish Prison Service, came before the Public Accounts Committee I questioned him about the current overcrowding in Cork Prison and the plans for a new Cork prison on the Kilworth site.

In reply to my questions he stated: ‘We are under extreme pressure in Cork Prison owing to the numbers coming through…it will not get any better in the short term because all the indications are that the number of people entering the system is on a consistently upward curve’.

He also said that: ‘We are under constant pressure in Cork because of the size of the facility…the footprint of the site is so small that the opportunities for development are limited. This is why we believe the 160-acre facility at Kilworth will be of assistance. This offers massive potential for putting in place the new prison and, if need be, for further development on the site’.

Given that the development of Thornton Hall to replace Mountjoy Prison continues to be plagued by controversy and delay, it is unlikely that a new Cork prison will be built for years to come.