Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Johnson mentioned the I-walked-in-your-shoes experience of people like him and other ex-prisoners who are trying to influence current prisoners or young people. Do these people really listen? Will a person aged 17 or 18 years listen to an ex-prisoner who is 35 or 40? Before I got involved in politics I worked in a disadvantaged school that was involved in a project called Breaking the Cycle. We used to save 85% of the children at risk because we put a lot of extra work into them. However, about 15% of the children came from chaotic, violent, dysfunctional families. By the age of 13 these children were stabbing people and at 16 they were on the way to jail. There was no saving them, but there was the 85% who could be saved with a bit of extra care and attention when we brought all sorts of help and supports into the school. Is there any way of turning around the children who come from dysfunctional families in crisis? They will see their mother being battered when they are four or five years of age, or will hear cocaine-fuelled rows. Does Mr. Johnson have any advice on that? The third question relates to what comes up within the Irish prison system. In Mr. Johnson's life experience in prisons, has he come across people who have an intellectual disability or other serious mental health issues?