Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I might come back to that point. Mr. Mullins made an interesting point about attempting to reintegrate people. Many of those I come across, both when I used to work in the courts and currently, are people who are not integrated at all. They are outsiders and they might be homeless. I note what Ms McCaffrey said about the integration sentence management, which deals with a combination of employment and education to help them. However, many of the people I speak to have served their sentences, many of which are short sentences. I spoke to one prisoner this morning who said that he left Cork Prison. He is back out, but there is nothing there for him. He had to go and find an accommodation officer himself because he had no job. He was put back into a homeless shelter where there was a lot of drug taking. People like him do not have much of a chance. It is difficult for him to reintegrate and to rehabilitate himself when he gets back out because of all of the difficulties, such as having no job. It is not a structured environment. That is the area in which I am most interested. It is extremely frustrating to see people who would have a chance but who are not getting it. I note what was said in response to an earlier question, namely, that there are more prisoners, and those who are on remand in particular, who are attending by video link. There should be spaces freed up to help people.

On the issue of courses, I note what was said, I think by Mr. Mullins about the number of psychologists. There is one psychologist for every 257 prisoners and there are 531 prisoners who are awaiting counselling. I remember that if there was a prisoner who was remanded in custody and who needed a psychiatrist’s report while on remand, it was practically impossible to get. My question to the IPS is whether any steps have been taken to address the problems? Even in the wider community it is very hard to get community services, such as psychologists and other types of therapists. What steps have been taken to address those waiting lists? For example, for those who are on shorter sentences, the Safe Pass course is a very good one. How many people were given certificates for a Safe Pass courses in 2019, 2020 and 2021? Do the witnesses know the figure? I think that in the Midlands Prison there are two drugs counsellors for approximately 700 or 800 prisoners. Do the witnesses think that is enough to deal with the situation there? They might answer some of those questions first and then I will come back in.