Mr. John Finucane:

The challenge for everybody moving forward is to remove the idea that prison reform is a win-lose issue, for example, the prisoners will win and prison staff will lose or Unionists will lose and Nationalists will win. We need to break that link, and that will involve everybody. It will take more than solicitors. Lawyers are probably the worst people to engage in processes such as this one. It takes civic society as well as political society. It takes a concerted effort to have the media realise that prison reform is something that benefits all of society. Whether they are coming out of Roe House or the other houses within Maghaberry, society is much better off if people come out in a much more stable position than when they entered it.

My comments are very much off the top of my head, having listened to the discussions today. The prisoners within Roe House would identify themselves as Irish citizens. If they are being denied access to their culture, whether that be learning their language, being able to make instruments and so on, the Minister or Ministers in this jurisdiction should be engaged with that, especially in an educational format. The concern that Irish citizens are being denied access to education, access to culture with very little downside in terms of security or an impact on anybody else is something that should be brought to people's attention.

In terms of this group, there seems to be surprise about some of the things that have been reported to them today. The group should see the situation for themselves. As many people as possible should go to Maghaberry. The members of this committee who spoke today who have visited Maghaberry have probably remained focused on this issue because of the impact those visits had upon them. It is a credit to all those involved, especially Deputy O'Sullivan, that they have stuck with it because prison issues are by no means popular.

I encourage everybody to meet. The Department of Justice, under the Assembly, needs to be engaged and show strong leadership. It should not allow the tail to wag the dog or allow the prison service to dictate what is and is not acceptable to it. Unless clear examples as to how the regime can be compromised are being put forward, ideas around prison reform, if needs be, must be imposed on the prison in the way certain ideas were imposed on the old RUC to move us into an era whereby policing has very much changed. I thank the Chairman for facilitating this meeting.