Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This amendment arose in respect of section 18(2)(b) of the legislation, as drafted, which states: "persons whose parole is being considered should be provided with information relevant to the consideration of their parole and be advised how they may participate in decision-making that directly concerns them". In addition, the Irish Penal Reform Trust referred to an unpublished survey conducted by the Irish Prison Service over the period 2015-17, so these are up-to-date figures. Some 25.6% of prisoner participants in that survey did not attend secondary school, 52% left before junior certificate, 80% had left before leaving certificate, only one in five had completed a leaving certificate, compared to three in five of the general population, and only 9% had completed some form of higher education. There are many other studies, with which I am sure the Minister is very familiar, that link disadvantage and the population of our prisons. To go way back, although the figures have remained the same, in 1997, some 56% of prisoners in Mountjoy Prison came from six districts in Dublin and almost 80% of participants in that study had left school before the age of 16.

Literacy is an issue I am particularly interested in. The figure nationally for the general population is astounding from the 1970s onwards. However, among the prison population, an Irish literacy survey found in 2003 that 52% of the prison population had the lowest literacy levels compared to 25% of the general population. I could go on but I know the Minister is very familiar with this.

It is in that context that I moved the amendment, which seeks to ensure that information was given to prisoners in a way that was real and so they could act on it, given the importance of a parole hearing. However, the Minister suggests the legal representation will ensure that.

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