A fire alarm system at the State's newest prison keeps going off and has resulted in Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin operating at only a quarter of its capacity.
The alarm is overly sensitive and is triggered by prisoners smoking.
Nine months after the prison, which now has more prison officers than prisoners, was officially opened by the Minister for Justice, all prisoners being transferred to Cloverhill have to be individually screened to ensure none of them has a history of setting fires, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Woman's Rights was told yesterday.
The director-general of the Prison Service, Mr Sean Aylward, told the committee the prison governor had to assign five additional night guards to the unit to ensure the safety of its 102 staff and 100 prisoners, most of whom smoke. They were available if required to operate a fully manned breathing apparatus team during staff breaks, periods of unlock and at night.
He added that the new prison, which is intended to replace Mountjoy as the main remand prison for adult males, was built to accommodate over 400 prisoners at maximum capacity. It was expected that all work on the £23.5 million facility would be completed by July last year, but by late June, after it was officially opened by the Minister for Justice, it became clear that the expected targets would not be met.
This was due to a problem with the electronic fire alarm system and the finish on the floors in the cells and circulation areas which was "hazardous", he said.
Mr Aylward said that from the outset the building contractor, Sisk, accepted full responsibility for remedying the problems. The floors had now been put right, but the fire alarm system was still unsatisfactory.