Ms Caron McCaffrey:

We have done very little capital work since 2019, given the limitations relating to Covid. Some of our schools have good facilities and some do not have great facilities. In Cork Prison, our newest purpose-built prison, the education unit is great. In Mountjoy, for example, the conditions are far from ideal. Every time I go in, Anne Costelloe, the principal, tells me she does not have enough space. They need a better hall and have issues in terms of having music classrooms. There are areas that require investment.

We are looking at building at Cloverhill Prison and already seeing clearly we need a new education centre as part of that build. It is not good enough for me to say we support prison education; we need to demonstrate that by investing in facilities. There is a strong commitment from our perspective in terms of investing in facilities.