Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for arriving late to the meeting. I, too, am not a member of the sub-committee. As a Deputy from the Portlaoise area, I am familiar with the prisons in the town. The issue of care after prison is my main concern and I apologise if the witnesses have addressed the issue. Many prisoners receive early release, while others will complete a full sentence. Do prisoners receive a discharge letter when they complete their sentence? I have encountered cases where persons who are discharged on completion of their sentences have been told by the local community welfare officer or an official in the local social welfare office that their application for jobseeker's payments will not be processed without a discharge letter. It may be a new development that the Department of Social Protection is specifically advising that persons who are on temporary release are not eligible for jobseeker's allowance because they are not available for work. Community welfare officers are taking a similar approach and are requiring a letter of discharge. These letters have become an issue recently.

On the linkage into State agencies, some local authorities take a sympathetic approach to people who have completed a prison sentence, while others are unduly unsympathetic towards them. The latter do not want to know about the circumstances of former prisoners and will try to move them elsewhere. What are the witnesses' views on the different approaches taken by local authorities to former prisoners? It can boil down to the attitude of an individual director of service.