David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We thank Mr. Johnson for coming today. It was very interesting and we will follow the project's progress carefully and might invite Mr. Johnson back to review that progress.

We are fascinated by this issue. We have come across a number of organisations here in our work on penal reform that are doing other work in a similar way, such as the Cornmarket Project in Wexford, which is very impressive, which uses motivational interviewing techniques that are very powerful. We have Ashoka in Dublin and the Probation Service and Prison Service are also quite progressive. We have engaged with the Irish Prison Officers Association and found all of those bodies to be forward thinking. Hopefully we can all work together for a better outcome.

I also wish to acknowledge the presence in the Public Gallery of Mr. Daniel Hutt from User Voice, Ms Erin Fornoff and Ms Rose Lemly from Ashoka Ireland, Mr. Andy Brennan from the Irish Prison Service, and Mr. Brian Dack and Ms Alison Bonar from the Irish Probation Service.