Mr. Eoin Carroll:

Hydebank Wood College in Northern Ireland has completely transformed itself. Three or four years ago it was considered a very dangerous institution and there was talk of closing it. While it is not perfect now, it has linked with Belfast Metropolitan, a further education college, and it is trying to bridge that education from the prison environment to the community. That has always been a difficult issue. The prison service is proud to say that it has several students studying for the junior and leaving certificates and further education but there is a transition point. It would be a real plus if we could link with our colleges of further education.

Some criticisms of a dedicated facility for young adults are that it would not work and that young adults behave better when they are with older adults. I posed these questions to the former director general of the prison service in Northern Ireland and she dismissed their legitimacy as reasons for detaining the young adult population with the older adult population. I recommend that the committee visit Hydebank Wood College in the North, and possibly a dedicated facility for young adults in Germany, to which we also refer.

The Deputy referred to women. An examination of current policy towards women is needed. I make specific reference to a proposed step-down facility for women, on which the Irish Prison Service went to tender in October. We already have two quasi facilities on the former St. Laurence site, one relatively large institution run by an NGO and another smaller institution run by another NGO. The question is whether they could be better used. Ultimately, we want to keep down the number of people we put in any form of institutional setting. If one looks at what Focus Ireland and the Fr. Peter McVerry Trust are looking at, one can see that it is something like the Housing First model. I think the outcomes the Irish Prison Service want from a step-down unit can be better achieved through a Housing First model. Under this model, the person is placed in their own home and provided with individualised supports based on their needs.