There is no lethargy in my Department regarding the provision of prison places. The Deputy does not mean to imply it but her knowledge of what is involved in planning and building a prison is lacking if she thinks a project can be announced one day and built the next, no matter who is involved in building it.
Another of the Deputy's points is inaccurate. Nineteen contractor/developer groups submitted proposals to the Department arising from an advertisement in some national newspapers on 20 August 1996 regarding the Government decision which was taken just a month previously. Most of the groups consist of a number of elements, including building contractors, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and, in some cases, financial institutions, which have come together with a view for consideration for the provision of the new remand prison. An important consideration in placing the advertisement in the newspapers was to gather information from interested parties on how they proposed to provide the new remand facility.
Deputy O'Donnell referred to submissions made in May 1995. However, at that point, no decision had been made to build a remand prison. I accept such a prison should be available and this is why I secured Government approval to build such a facility, which will be the first targeted remand prison built in the State. Whatever criticism may land on my desk about the absence of such a prison in the past, we are in the process of preparing and building such a facility now so that remand and convicted prisoners may be segregated.
The concept of placing the advertisement was to gather information from people who spoke to Deputies and me at social functions saying they could build a prison and outlining how they would do it. Nineteen contractors replied and the proposals received cover a wide range of options, including traditional tender and construction; design and build; design, build and finance; design, build, finance and operate; off-shelf projects, and management contractor methods. These proposals, with other known methods and variations, are being considered and evaluated with the assistance of the Office of Public Works, the experts in this area. The main criteria used in the evaluation process are suitability for the project, good value for money and speed of delivery.
It is not appropriate at this point to outline the favoured method of procurement because the 19 submissions are being examined at present. As soon as they have been fully examined, an announcement will be made as to how the project will proceed. The Government has approved the finance for the remand facility and this should be taken into account. The money is available but the Government may decide to operate a system whereby the private sector is more involved in this project than in others in the past.