The new Mountjoy women's prison is scheduled to open on September 8th and will accommodate 80 prisoners, the Department of Justice has confirmed. All women prisoners in Mountjoy will be transferred to the new prison and the old women's section will again become part of St Patrick's Institution.
The prison, which cost £13 million, has new facilities which the present women's section does not have. All cells have showers and are designed for one person only.
There is a limited number of interconnecting cells for family members and larger cells for women with babies. There is a bigger gym and a block dedicated to the women's education and work training. The standard size of the cells is 11.7 square metres, an increase from the 8.4 square metre cells in the present women's prison. The prison was originally scheduled to open last year with 60 places. However, it was decided to increase the number of places to 80 and another block was added on. "It is a very impressive facility and is on a par with the best you could find in any country," said Dr Ian O'Donnell of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.
Dr O'Donnell said he hoped there would be enhanced services to deal with prisoners' drug addictions and rehabilitation.
"I hope the same level of thought which went into the structure of the new prison will be matched by the thought put into the women's regime in the prison," he said.
Women in Limerick prison, which houses on average 10 to 12, will be transferred to a new unit in Limerick when it is built.
The completion of the women's prison comes three months after a new prison was opened in Clover hill, west Dublin, which has space for 400 men. A new prison in Portlaoise for 515 men will be opened in December or January.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said that by the end of the year, an additional 1,200 prison spaces would have been provided since the summer of 1997. The Government also hopes to build a further 800 prison spaces in an effort to halt overcrowding. However, Dr O'Donnell asked: "Why is the Government building new prisons when there is no evidence to show that we need them?"