Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality
Repatriation of Irish Prisoners in the United Kingdom: Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas
2:50 pm
Fr. Gerry McFlynn:
There is not a minor offence in that instance. People are given an IPP sentence for something deemed by the courts to be serious. That being the case, the people in question are given a programme of courses to do in order to rehabilitate them and help them pass through the prison system in such a way that they can change their lifestyle when they emerge. We have mentioned a couple of times that many prisons do not provide these courses. With the cutbacks happening now, there will be fewer of these courses available.