Ms Caron McCaffrey:

What goes with that, as Mr. O'Connor said, is that high levels of educational attainment are not the norm but what everybody who engages in our schools gets is a sense of self-worth, self-belief and achievement, which is incredible. For many of the men and women, it is the first time they have ever had a positive achievement. We invited families in to celebrate those successes pre-Covid and we hope to do so again soon. The Gaisce programme, which is active in our schools, is all about giving people that sense of self-belief and self-worth and that there is a different pathway for them to take.

As I mentioned, all of the services within our prisons are aimed at reducing the issues that gave rise to the offending. In some cases, it is low levels of educational attainment. In many cases, there are addiction issues. Approximately 70% of our population have addiction issues. A great deal of work goes on in trying to help people address their addiction issues so that they can take part in education. Mental illness and mental health issues are very significant in the prison population. We have an excellent psychology service. A holistic approach is taken to the people in our care to address all of the underlying issues that gave rise to their offending. As people are on that journey of addressing those issues, they blossom in our schools and go on to achieve great successes.

As Mr. O'Connor said, accreditation is one measure. We have been having this conversation with the Department of Education inspectorate. In prison schools, the class is made up of the most complex people with the most complex needs in society. Measuring against educational attainment or certificates is not necessarily the measure that should be used. As Mr. O'Connor said, it is much broader and richer. The one point I would make is that many people who come to our prisons come for very short sentences. This can be difficult for the education centre, our psychology services and our healthcare services as they need a sufficient period to help people address the issues that gave rise to their offending. When people come for three, four, five or six months it can be quite difficult. It can be quite difficult from the school's perspective with regard to engaging this cohort of prisoners while they are with us for a short period of time.