Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The Irish Prison Service report, The Prison Adult Literacy Survey: Results and Implications, which was published in September 2003, is the most recent information available to my Department. The major results of the survey indicated that a significant number of prisoners have virtually no literacy skills and 52% were at level one or pre-level one literacy levels. In other words, more than twice as many prisoners are at the lowest level as compared with the population generally.

Literacy work continues to be a priority element of the prison education curriculum and every effort is made to publicise literacy classes and encourage as many prisoners as possible to avail of them. A number of significant initiatives commenced or were strengthened since 2003 in parallel to efforts to address adult literacy in the community. These include the fuller use of negotiated learning plans for all literacy students; the introduction of and support for the new FETAC level one and two courses; the introduction of the National Adult Literacy Agency's assessment framework, mapping the learning journey, in each education centre; devising and delivering the 30-hour initial tutor training course devised by the National Adult Literacy Agency and Waterford Institute of Technology for teachers new to prison education; and developing and implementing a national literacy plan for prison education.

An adult basic education development worker is employed by the prison education service with specific responsibility for implementing and supporting developments and initiatives in the area of literacy, numeracy, English for speakers of other languages and basic education. The need for such developments was highlighted in the 2002 guidelines of quality literacy work in prisons produced by the prison education literacy working group and the findings and recommendations of the 2003 prison adult literacy survey.

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