Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I have a couple of questions for them. Deputy O'Callaghan made the point that we should probably concentrate on a couple of areas rather than a wider range of areas. The witnesses have touched on so many problems with how policing is done. When we present a large number of issues to a Department or to the Government, much of it gets lost.

Many would agree that the prison system is not working. That is a problem not just for the prisoners but also for the victims because people reoffend. We seem to have been very slow to learn from international best practice. It was said that there has been some progress. I agree that is the case but it has been minimal. What do the witnesses think could be done to address the fact we are in the Dark Ages in this country in terms of how we deal with prisons and prisoners?

The witnesses touched on the poor behaviour of the media and the unbalanced coverage of issues. Given the media's poor practice and behaviour around crime and the prison population, do they have any ideas of how to address that? The media will do anything or target anyone to sell newspapers. Is there any way to address the challenges in this regard?

My third question is about the community service orders. Does the witness have the figures for 2015 or 2016 for the number of people who were given community service orders? What shape does that take? What type of structure is in place to facilitate the operation of those?