Ms Caron McCaffrey:

The information provided to us by the governor is that, historically, there was an arrangement in place whereby milk was provided to the mess committee from the prison stores, and paid for. That arrangement ceased a number of years ago, so while there is no disciplinary issue arising necessarily, there is clearly a concern from our perspective in respect of assurance and compliance. Over the past 12 months, on at least three occasions, I have written to governors to remind them of their responsibilities to ensure that any food purchased for prisons does not find its way to the mess committee, and ultimately that responsibility lies with the governor of each institution.