Mr. Fergal Black:

-----and all the issues relating to mental health and addiction. Within our structures and within a correctional setting, we provide a reasonably good service. What we have done in the last couple of years, in recognition of the fact that there is no open prison, is provide a step-down facility in the centre of Dublin, the outlook centre, where women can effect a transition more safely from custody to community. However, I agree with the Deputy that women who come into prison, mainly because they have an accumulation of charges but for relatively minor offences, have an abundance of social issues.