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.