Mr. Michael Donnellan:

What will give a dividend to society is the way we handle the point of introduction from prison to the community. We know that the first 24 hours of a former prisoner's life in the community after leaving prison is the most dangerous. It is the point when he or she falls back into reoffending. We must ensure that we put resources into not just finishing with people at the gate but supporting their journey through the gate and into the community. We would have a sizeable number of people in prison today who could be out of prison but we do not release them from prison because we would simply be releasing them to homelessness. We have teams of people that we fund who are helping to manage the transition. The top priority on our wish list is that people who come out of prison would have proper accommodation, would get their social welfare payment and their medical card quickly, so that they would be hooked back into society. Therefore they can be sustained through support. Female offenders have completely different needs from male offenders, and it is very much the case that we in the Prison Service with our probation colleagues need to provide step-down facilities for people coming out of prison rather than simply hoping that everything will work out when they leave prison. This is where we are putting the major emphasis from now on. That will reduce recidivism and will stop people spiralling back into prison.