Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Carroll for his presentation. Like others, I recognise the work his organisation does. I have two or three questions to ask him.

One point we have heard made on penal reform by many delegates concerns the failure of politics, politicians and political parties at many levels. Over time we have all collectively embraced populism on penal reform, which involves a false dichotomy. In the 1980s, I believe, there were reduced crime rates but prisoner numbers doubled. Penal policy in Ireland has been created and formulated by accident rather than by design. In many ways that is still the case, with changing budgets. We have seen a failure among all politicians and parties in truly embracing the common ground on penal reform. The problem is that there have been a number of reports from justice committees that have not been prioritised by the Department of Justice and Equality in the context of its budget and agenda. That leads to my first question. Bearing in mind Mr. Carroll's input into the policy process, what significant initiative on penal reform in the past ten years has been a follow-through on reports that have been produced?