Mr. Michael Donnellan:

What the committee and Oireachtas Members generally can do is have a consensus about how penal reform should happen into the future. Punitivism does not really work. Many countries have tried it and it fails again and again. We have to go beyond punitivism and look at other things.

Prison visiting committees have an important role. They comprise ordinary citizens who have the right to come into prisons, walk around and interact with prisoners and staff. That is important because prisons are closed, institutional places and the more that people come from the outside in, the more helpful it is.

On whistleblowing, we also have protected disclosures just like everyone else. There is no doubt that bullying happens. In the prison environment, prisoner on prisoner bullying happens, but we try to deal with it as effectively as we can.