The sale of a former prison site in Shankill, Co Dublin, will earn the State more than €29 million.
According to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, the 6.3-acre site at the former open prison at Shanganagh Castle has attracted two tenders for more than €20 million, and both bids are being evaluated.
This latest sale will bring to more than €29 million for the final price tag of the sale of the 27-acre site. Some 21 acres was sold in 2003 to Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council for €9 million to provide affordable housing. The remainder of the site, 6.3 acres, was then rezoned.
The Tánaiste said that when the State was buying the land for a new prison complex in Thornton Hall, north Co Dublin, the Government decided that the proceeds from the sale of Shanganagh should be used to offset the cost to the taxpayer.
"The Government took the decision on the basis and the expectation that the sale proceeds would cover approximately two thirds of the cost.
"Prudent management of the prison property portfolio has now resulted in the sale of Shanganagh effectively covering the entire cost of the purchase of the 150-acre site at Thornton - which was purchased for €29.9 million or just under €200,000 per acre."
The open prison in Shankill, which was previously an open centre for boys aged between 16 and 21, was closed in December 2002.
The new prison campus, which is planned for construction at Thornton, about 14 kilometres from Dublin city centre, will have rehabilitation programmes and facilities, and a variety of security levels.
