Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentations. It has been a very informative session. Unfortunately, many of us have ended up stating the obvious. While there are many complex societal and economical issues involved, it strikes me listening to the contributions back and forward that the crux of what we are discussing today is a lack of housing. I share some of the concerns raised by colleagues about the collection of data. I am deeply concerned about the fact those statistics are not being released, even in a way that is compliant with certain guidelines and so on. I find that unusual, to say the least.

I hope the witnesses will forgive my naivety and possible ignorance but I want to be clear on an issue. Examples were given of different programmes in place in Cork, for example. People mentioned integrated services. I have experience of dealing with integrated services in my previous role as a city councillor in Belfast, and they work exceptionally well. Unfortunately, they lost their funding, which is telling. In terms of my question, we have had a debate about prison as a form of rehabilitation and whether it even does that in the first instance, but I refer to a prisoner who is identified as being homeless and who is part of the rehabilitation process.

What are the steps for that person to access accommodation upon release, whether in a home or in emergency accommodation? Whose responsibility is it? Is it that of the probation service or the prison system? Do organisations such as Simon Communities bolster those groups? Are there statistics for prisoners who are rehoused on release and for those who go back on the street and sleep rough? I do not want to oversimplify the problem and the witnesses have articulated the complex issues but the problem for me is a shortage of appropriate social housing. That is a fundamental human right and a matter of basic dignity. If the State professes that the prison system is a form of rehabilitation but knowingly allows people to go back into society without being adequately prepared, it would be a terrible blight on it.

I would like to hear from prisoners and former prisoners. We would not need to disrupt our report as we could do it retrospectively and committee members would benefit from so doing regardless of the report. Perhaps the Simon Communities could facilitate members going into the prisons to speak to prisoners who are there as a result of finding themselves on the street. We could find out about the mental health issues they face and, even if we cannot do it through the committee, I would be very keen to get a better understanding of the issues.