Mr. Warren Graham:

In light of what Ms Gavin said, Covid-19 was the perfect opportunity to introduce distance learning technology. Some people, including me, have laptops and we engage and do our assignments using MS Word, etc., but there could also have been a programme similar to what was suggested by Ms Gavin, where teachers could have engaged with guys in their cells during lockdown. I heard first-hand that teachers were willing to do that. The Covid-19 pandemic therefore was the perfect opportunity to undertake that kind of training.

Experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic in prison was tough. We did well in keeping the virus out of prisons, and there were fantastic levels of engagement by prisoners. In recent weeks and months, though, we have been hearing of restrictions easing and of people hugging in the outside world, as the Senator said. I think about 400,000 people were in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day. Yet I still cannot hug my mother, or pick my niece up when she comes to visit. That is heartbreaking for me and for many others like me, especially for some guys who have smaller kids and who have probably only been in prison throughout Covid-19. This has been their only experience of prison, whereas I have too much experience and I know what it was like before the onset of Covid-19. Strangely, I look forward to prison getting back to the way it was before the pandemic.

It has been tough when it comes to visits, regarding who it has been possible to get in to visit and the numbers of people allowed in at any one time, especially when it comes to choosing which of several kids should come today and which one in two weeks. The video calls were great. There were teething problems at the start, but they have come on greatly. It was some months before they were first available, but then it was a great opportunity for guys to see their families in the surrounds of their family homes again. Many guys would not have seen that for a long time. Therefore, the video calls were good.

Physical contact, however, has been a massive problem, because even if I hug a guy in here, I will probably be subject to isolation. Within the prison system, Covid seems to be as much of a problem as 12 months ago. We still seem to be in that phase from a year ago when it was really rampant. It is rampant again in society, but, thankfully, not with the levels of severe illness and the rates of admission to intensive care units, ICUs, as there were previously. Responsibility, though, does not seem to be being given to us in this context. It is as if we would be irresponsible with the responsibility, so they just take that from us and say this is how it should be, rather than saying, "listen lads, we have given you the opportunity, just be responsible". This has been a massive problem for me and for many others like me who have also been in prison for a long time. Like them, I would give anything to be able to hug my mother and to know she is all right, as well as my girlfriend and everyone else.