THE Castlerea prison project is "going ahead according to plan", according to the Minister for Justice. Mrs Owen was announcing yesterday the opening of 33 additional prison spaces at St Patrick's Institution in Dublin as part of a programme to provide 278 new spaces in the State's prison system.
The programme includes moving 25 republican prisoners from Portlaoise prison to Castlerea, Co Roscommon, which would free 80 places at Portlaoise. Although the move is under review following the breakdown of the IRA cease fire, Mrs Owen said work on Castlerea would proceed as scheduled and the local authority planning process had started.
In an effort to stop threatened industrial action by gardai, Mrs Owen also announced that two new Garda stations are to built in Dublin. She said a project to provide a new station at Blanchardstown is "being progressed as quickly as possible", and the Office of Pubic Works is negotiating to obtain a site for it.
The Minister said she expected construction of the station would begin before the end of the year.
A site for a new station in Clondalkin is also "being urgently sought", she said. "In the meantime favourable consideration will be given to any works which might improve conditions in the present station subject, of course, to the recognition that the station is to be replaced".
Gardai at Clondalkin had said they would consider parading for duty elsewhere if the conditions at their station were not improved.