Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I am not sure how much of the Minister's reply remains unannounced and will be stitched into the Official Report but I regret that his answer so far gave absolutely nothing in terms of a positive response as to what plan the Government might have to deal with this issue.

I refer to the stark statistics quoted by the Minister. Within four years of release, more than half of these offenders are back in jail. These are not the violent criminal gangsters to which we referred earlier but people who are unemployed and petty criminals for the most part who are being failed by the system. The reason the system fails them is because there is no rehabilitative programme in prisons. The workshops are being closed, educational facilities are being withdrawn, the rate of literacy among prisoners is running at 65% to 70% and nobody is doing anything about it.

I ask the Minister to announce to the House a plan or a policy his Government might have to deal with the question of habitual offending which is contributing to an unacceptable revolving door system within prisons.

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