Cuts may stall prison plans
Thursday July 24 2008
The Mitchelstown-based deputy said that he believed the Department of Finance would stall funding for the multimillion euro facility as a direct result of a ?1.5 billion cost-cutting plan recently announced by the government.
Deputy O?Keeffe said that, while it had been hoped to begin work on the prison in the spring of next year, as far as he was aware, the government intend to ?extend the timeframe? for the project.
He was, however, adamant that any delay would be temporary and that prison will be built in Kilworth.Ireland is not immune to the worldwide recession and? the government are in a position where projects will have to be prioritised,? said Deputy O?Keeffe.Plans for the new prison at Thornton Hall in Dublin are at an advanced stage which would lead me to believe that this will be given priority over the proposed facility for Kilworth,? he added.
Deputy O?Keeffe said was confident the money for the project would be made available once the government finances have been straightened out.It is my belief that this could take up to two years,? he added.
However, a spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said that they have received no indication that money for the project will be withheld.We are putting together a business case for the prison which we intend to put to the Department of Finance in the near future,? he said.We certainly have received no indication from the Department about any delay in funding for the project,? he added.
A spokesman from the Department of Finance was unavailable for comment at time of going to press.
Mitchelstown-based Cork County Councillor Liam O?Doherty said, as far as he was concerned, a delay in the project would be ?most welcome?.As far as local people are concerned, the government has attempted to railroad this project through without any form of public consultation. A delay in its implementation might allow the opportunity for such a process to take place,? said Cllr O?Doherty.
