Mr. Fergal Black:

I will try to answer that before others respond. It is fair to say that the Prison Service has developed a more outward-looking view for the last ten to 15 years. There was a point in time where people came into custody, we managed their sentence and we released them. Now, when people come into custody we work with them and, as we did with Mr. Graham, we try to develop their capacity. We also work with them in terms of that transition from custody to community. I believe we have made significant inroads. However, it cannot be left at the door of the Prison Service. Over the last five years, we have a developed a couple of things. We have a protocol with the Department of Social Protection so that somebody coming out of custody will get a payment on the day of release. Somebody coming out of custody who served a sentence for six months will get a medical card, which ensures the person's prescription for essential medication is not interrupted.

Where we have had less success is with accommodation. We have a point of contact with each of the 31 local authorities and we work with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. For most single men who make up the vast majority of people in custody, coming out of custody means going into short-term emergency accommodation and that is not ideal. However, that is a reflection of what is happening in society. We have to continue to work with the statutory agencies to ensure they see people who are in custody as citizens, and that was not always the case.

The final thing, as an indication of positive developments in this area, is that we created a Housing First criminal justice model over the last year. We now have 75 places so people coming out of custody or who are involved in probation supervision can get wraparound services. Some of these people have complex needs. They need to have an addiction worker or a mental health nurse. One of the differences from Housing First generally is that in the criminal justice Housing First there is a key worker who will ensure they will go to their probation officer, go to court and so forth. To date, of the 14 people we have placed in permanent tenancies, 11 have sustained those tenancies. We have funding for 75 tenancies. It is a Dublin-only proposal, but in Housing for All it is proposed to make it nationwide. Some work has been done, but there is a lot more to do.