To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of building a female prison as referred to in the recent Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Report on the Prisons Estate in Northern Ireland (HC 118). (182304)

As I previously announced, the Northern Ireland Prison Service is taking forward a review of the needs of female offenders, including the scope for provision of a dedicated facility.

The project team is still in the research phase, including an examination of good practice in other jurisdictions, and is scheduled to provide Ministers with a draft report by the end of February. Costings will not be available until late summer 2008.