Mr. Michael Culbert:

I have provided a short introduction of what Coiste na nIarchimí is, what it does and what it hopes to do. Rather than repeat what I hope committee members have already read, I will take a moment to quote from the Good Friday Agreement in the context of the people we represent. The first quote is from Annex B on page 48 of the Good Friday Agreement, which states, "The Governments continue to recognise the importance of measures to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners into the community by providing support both prior to and after release, including assistance directed towards availing of employment opportunities, re-training and/or re-skilling, and further education." That is in the Good Friday Agreement.

Eight years later we had the St. Andrews Agreement, where the commitment was:

The Government will work with business, trade unions and ex-prisoner groups to produce guidance for employers which will reduce barriers to employment and enhance re-integration of former prisoners.

The only thing which we are here to speak about is our attempt to gain equality of citizenship on the island of Ireland. All we want is to work full time. This is the fifth engagement I have had with the implementation group, yet I am not aware of any actions by the Government in the South. Following the Stormont House Agreement, we have been very fortunate to get the setting up of structures in parts of Ireland-----