Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in and thank them for all of the work that they do. I apologise for not being here yesterday but I had to attend the conference centre.

I am glad that Deputy Hourigan mentioned the tuckshop issues so I can set my questions on that aside and ask questions on other matters. I have worked on prison and penal reform for a very long time. I am really interested in the topic, particularly in the community release projects and the work done to help train and develop people thus giving them real rehabilitation opportunities.

I wish to check the following with the witnesses as my information might be slightly out of date. How is the community release programme going? How many people participate in the programme? The last I heard about the programme was that it was 90% successful, which is fantastic. What is its current success rate?