Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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293. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of money spent each year for the past seven years on the training and education of prisoners; if this budget has been cut recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43645/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the table below illustrates the amounts spent each year for the past seven years on the training and education of prisoners. It is notable that the funding allocated to these areas has been retained over the last 3 years (including the current year), despite the general budget cuts applied across the Prison Vote. Budgets for 2014 are yet to be set.

2013 spend to date not available

2013 budget for Work Training is 2.00 million

2013 budget for Educational Services is 1.265 million

Work Training

The Irish Prison Service places a strong emphasis on improving prisoners’ employability prospects through work training activities and accredited vocational training courses.

A wide range of training workshops operate within the institutions e.g. printing, computers, braille, woodwork, metalwork, construction, industrial cleaning, crafts and horticulture. There are over 100 workshops and service activities across the prison estate.

The IPS has also been expanding the number of accredited courses and opportunities available to prisoners in Work Training in recent years. Enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies such as City and Guilds, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), and the Guild of Launders and Cleaners and the centralising of coordination and quality assurance arrangements have enabled us to extend the number of available courses and activities with certification.

The IPS now has over 100 qualifications available across 20 skill sets. The numbers of prisoners participating in accredited vocational training courses has increased from 314 in 2007 to 1,459 in 2012 and 1,030 prisoners received certificates in the last year.

Expenditure under Work Training covers day to day costs of running the activities, including equipment purchase, materials, course fees and certification,

Education

Educational services are available at all institutions and are provided in partnership with a range of educational agencies including notably the ETBs and Public Library Services. The Department of Education and Skills provides an allocation of 220 whole-time teacher equivalents, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2007. Literacy, numeracy and general basic education provision is the priority and broad programmes of education are made available which generally follow an adult education approach.

Expenditure under this heading covers the incidental day to day costs of running the education centres, including educational equipment purchase and repair, course resource materials and educational software. Teachers' salaries are funded by the Department of Education and Skills. The expenditure for library services comprises refund of librarian salaries and stock purchases to local library services.