§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are their plans for Castlereagh Interrogation and Holding Centre in Northern Ireland.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Dubs)The Government look forward to the day when the Holding Centres can be closed permanently. Meantime, while it remains operationally necessary to keep them open, the Government would wish to replace Castlereagh Holding Centre as soon as possible. It is not feasible at the moment, given other priorities, to meet the necessary funding within the current PANI budget for such a major building project. However, the matter will be kept under continuous review.
A system to provide for the silent video recording of interviews is in the process of being introduced and is expected to be operational by January 1998.