Ms Caron McCaffrey:

I am pleased to have an opportunity to address the committee today. I was pleased to have made a comprehensive submission, which I hope members found useful.

I am joined today by my colleague Fergal Black, who is the director of care and rehabilitation in the Irish Prison Service. He has overall responsibility for the delivery of prisoner services within the Irish Prison Service. I am also joined by the governor of Mountjoy Prison, Eddie Mullins.

The committee will be aware from my written submission that the Irish Prison Service provides a broad range of services and activities in which prisoners can participate on a daily basis. I am happy to take any questions from members in that regard.

These services provide constructive activities for those in prison while serving their sentences and are very much designed to target the root causes of offending. They provide an opportunity for those in prison to address their educational needs or skills deficits through participation in education or training, which supports their eventual reintegration into society. However, rehabilitation is not limited to the provision of education and skills, although these are very important. It also includes measures aimed at enhancing the physical, emotional and mental well-being of those in our care.

Our prisons provide opportunities for those in custody to achieve change. I strongly believe our prisons should be seen as institutions of opportunity and not as places of punishment.

We have an integrated sentence management, ISM, process in place, which we will be happy to discuss later. Central to it is prisoners taking personal responsibility for engaging with services available throughout the duration of their sentence to prepare them for release. Through this ISM process, important issues such as accommodation, employment and education are addressed to help people plan towards resettlement into their community. The smooth transition from prison back into the community is an essential component of the rehabilitative process. It is important to note that the rehabilitation process does not start and end with a person’s time in custody and without the appropriate supports in the community, much of the good work done by prison-based staff during the period of imprisonment can be undone very quickly. The Irish Prison Service continues to develop effective partnerships with our key stakeholders to ensure that appropriate post-release supports are available for people leaving prison and returning to their community.

Achieving desistance from crime is complex and difficult and is not achieved over a short period of time. It requires a co-ordinated approach involving the offender, the prison system and the community and only by continuing to work together collaboratively will we continue to achieve better outcomes for prisoners resulting is safer communities for all.

It is important to recognise the harm and suffering caused to victims of crime and we are always mindful of victims in our work with those in our custody. The ultimate aim of our work and engagement with offenders is to reduce reoffending, resulting in fewer victims of crime in the future.

I am sure members will agree that those involved in the delivery of services to prisoners play a hugely important role within our prisons. I also wish to acknowledge the influence that our prison officers have on the lives of people in their care. Feedback from prisoners through research has shown that prison officers, through their day-to-day interactions, are positive role models for prisoners and have a profound influence on the life of the person while in custody.

I am sure that those here who have visited our prisons will have seen the dedication and commitment that prison staff have for those in their care and the passion they have in providing support, especially to those very vulnerable people within the prison system. From my perspective, that commitment and resolve was very much evident over the past two years, as we fought to manage Covid-19 within our prison system while continuing to support prisoners in relation to engaging with services.

I will finish there as I am out of time. I thank the committee for the opportunity and I look forward with engaging with members.