Ms Caroline O'Reilly:

I think there is a massive missed opportunity in the prison system. I heard a high-ranking officer in one prison referring to it as "warehousing people". That is not rehabilitation. Unfortunately, from their point of view, it is probably what they have to do to ensure the safety of everybody in the building. We have, though, missed an opportunity here. We have many willing professionals going into prisons to provide therapy but it is on an ad hoc basis or at the will of the section 39 organisation doing in-reach into the prison system. The prison services could provide core rehabilitation programmes for people in there who want to access rehabilitation, even if it is preparation for release into treatment. We need to have more of a statutory focus on this aspect.