The €30 million spent on the Thornton Hall prison site was a waste of taxpayers' money by a "blundering" minister, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte claimed in the Dáil today.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte told the Taoiseach:
The north Co Dublin land was bought by the state for €200,000 an acre despite adjoining sites going for between €20,000 and €30,000. The purchase was sanctioned by Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
Last year the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) criticised the purchase price paid, the size of the land and the failure to pay attention to the extra costs of developing roads into the site.
The State's decision to openly say it was buying the land for a prison site meant the landowner was able to hike up the price, the C&AG concluded.
Raising the issue in the Dáil, Mr Rabbitte said: "It was the most profligate waste of taxpayers' money by a blundering minister that rivals anything that Deputy Enda Kenny has instanced about the other decisions on which you wasted so much money during the lifetime of this Government.
"God knows how much he will pay for the roadway in. He seems to be an easy touch but he's paying with taxpayers' money.
"This is a laughable decision by an incompetent government."
Replying during Leaders' Questions, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the Government wanted to build a modern prison with essential ancillary facilities on a large greenfield site near Dublin. Conditions in some jails were deplorable and needed to be improved, he added.
"A number of sites were checked. The Thornton Hall site was sourced. The contracts were prepared," he said. "Building a prison always brings controversies."
The preferred bidder for the project will be announced before Easter, the Taoiseach confirmed.
Mr Rabbitte replied: "You are in no position to lecture about waste of public money when you stand over a decision like Thornton Hall. It is a waste of money, it didn't meet evaluation criteria, it was embarked on in a way that was so rigorously criticised not by me but by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
"An adjacent site has been sold for half of the value. The C&AG said you didn't follow the evaluation criteria and now we're stuck with it."
Mr Ahern claimed that the Opposition criticised poor facilities but when the Government tries to improve them, they criticise that as well. Facilities like the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum were ancient and unsuitable for patients any more, he noted.
He said his constituency colleague, Labour TD Joe Costello had been a defender of prisoner rights but would have released all inmates from their cells if he got his way.