Mr. Fergal Black:

It has been there since 1985. The numbers doing Open University courses have increased in the past three years, with 69 people completing courses in the past year. People doing their leaving certificate are facilitated by the education units, which are very flexible in their approach. There is no difficulty with doing an Open University course. People may not be able to continue a course they were studying in a third level education facility but we can link them into courses very easily.

We also make laptops available, subject to security considerations. People can do their coursework in their cells. We have to be mindful about giving Wi-Fi access to people who have committed certain offences and we have to be mindful of victims. All of this comes into the mix. From time to time we encounter learners who have stuff on their laptops that they should not have. We deal with them. This is how we approach it. If one person digresses, it should not mean that everybody suffers. We do not approach it this way. We deal with the transgression. There is very much an openness on our part to facilitate people at the point they are at with the appropriate learning, be that at a basic education level or with the leaving certificate, junior certificate or third level education.