Ms Caron McCaffrey:

As the Secretary General has outlined, it has been a truly remarkable and challenging period for communities across the globe and Covid- 19 has also had a major impact on the Irish Prison Service as we sought to keep all those who live and work in our prisons safe. As a service, we have proven to be adaptable, flexible, resilient and highly innovative and our staff have embraced the challenges presented to us by the pandemic with professionalism and dedication.

The year 2020 saw the introduction of new and innovative methods of service delivery, including the delivery of teleservices for chaplaincy and psychology; maintaining links with family and friends virtually using video link technology; the introduction of electronic money transfer systems in partnership with An Post; and the introduction of in-cell telephones to help prisoners keep in contact with their loved ones and to support their mental health. As a result, we were able to face down the challenges of Covid-19 and continue to provide the best possible level of service to prisoners in our care and to their families. In early 2021, it became clear to all of us that living with Covid-19 was going to be a reality for some time. Many of these new systems introduced in response to Covid-19 have now become essential tools for the delivery of prisoner services and for supporting prisoners, and have been permanently retained as we have moved into a less restricted environment.

Preventing the spread of infection into prisons and keeping those in our care safe did have an impact on expenditure and on the costs of providing prisoner services in 2020, with additional costs relating to the purchase of personal protective equipment for staff and prisoners, additional infection control costs, and healthcare and specialist cleaning supply costs. This was necessary expenditure to mitigate against the risk posed by the virus and our infection control measures were central in our success in effectively managing the threat posed by Covid-19 in a prison setting.

In 2020, additional funding was provided to the Irish Prison Service under the Government economic stimulus package. This allowed for a number of important projects to be advanced, such as building roof repairs, CCTV and security system upgrades, nationwide carbon reduction LED lighting replacement and upgrades to fire alarms.

Notwithstanding the challenges presented by Covid-19 since 2020, the Irish Prison Service has continued to deliver on the strategic actions set out in our current strategic plan, including our programme of prison modernisation. Despite the impact on the construction sector due to the closure of construction sites at certain times, significant progress was made during 2020 on the capital development project at Limerick Prison. Work on the project has continued in 2021 and 2022 and the project remains within budget and is expected to be completed later this year. The project will provide quality accommodation for prisoners and enhanced services, and will provide an additional 90 male prison spaces and 22 additional female prison spaces.

Over the lifetime of our strategy, we have continued to implement a programme of reform within our service. We continue to work closely with our key stakeholders to enhance the supports available for prisoners, including supporting prisoners on their transition from prison back into their communities. As we emerge from this global pandemic, work is now turning to the development of a new strategic plan for our service through which we will build on recent reforms and take account of our experiences and learning from the past two years.

I can go into further detail as the members require.