Mr. Fergal Black:

I will pick up on a couple of points. As the director general said, unfortunately, we receive people who are in for low-level crimes, particularly on remand with high enduring mental illnesses. Something that happens in Cloverhill, which is our main remand centre, is the diversion programme that we are looking to extend to Garda stations. They should not have to come to prison. In any given year, approximately 160 prisoners are diverted from Cloverhill to appropriate services. What that means in practice is that when people come in to Cloverhill, they are assessed by our healthcare team and referred to the forensic team. The forensic team does a report, which is normally six or seven pages. The team will then go to court and seek to persuade the judge to change the bail conditions. It will have allocated these people a place in a community mental health facility, outreach placement or other appropriate placement. They will be referred there. One might be talking about people who are in for public order offences, such as defecating in a taxi, shouting and so on. That is an appropriate thing and we are looking for that to be extended.

On homelessness, between 8% and 10% declare homelessness on committal, as the director general has said. We are clear that there is a body of people that does not declare itself to be homeless. There is a rationale for that. If someone comes in as a prisoner, the assumption is that if he or she declares himself or herself homeless, his or her chance of being considered for early release, community return or whatever, will be impacted. It may not, but that is the view. We believe the real level of homelessness among the prisoner population is significantly higher.

Finally, we regard someone aged over 55 as older, and I am speaking as a member of that community. It is well recognised internationally that prisoners over the age of 50 are likely to present with a myriad of health challenges. Their health status does not generally reflect well in comparison with the general community. We have taken the view that is the threshold, and our training unit provides accommodation for 94 men over-55. On 31 December 2019, prisoners aged over 55 numbered 329 in custody. Three years later, on 31 December 2022 that figure was 438. That is a 33% increase. For those aged over 75 it has gone from 26 to 37. That is another significant increase. Why is that happening? People are being convicted for historical sex offences, and a lot of those tend to be of an older age when they come into custody. There are people serving life sentences who are growing old in prison. For our services, we have to evolve. When we set up the training unit we did not set it up as a traditional prison. We met with the Irish Men's Shed Association and, therefore, of having a metal workshop, we have a men's shed facility. It is affiliated with men's sheds in the wider community. We hope that when people are released, they will join their local men's shed for support and so on. The Men's Shed facility currently in the training unit, in collaboration with the Irish Red Cross, is currently recycling old bicycles provided by McQuaid Cycles for children coming from Ukraine. We see that as very productive. They are also involved in education, which is something that older people want. We have a good library service and a horticultural service. We are providing a service we believe is tailored to the needs of that growing older population. However, as the director general said, unfortunately as that population increases there will be more deaths due to natural causes.