Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response but it focused entirely on the in-prison service, as though everybody looks at the situation in their own silo. It is shocking that so many people who have clearly been failed by the education system end up in prison. What is going to be done about that in a joined-up way? I recall a former prison governor indicating that the vast bulk of the inmates in that prison were drawn from an identifiable number of postcodes. Does the Minister of State consider he has a responsibility to reduce the numbers that end up in prison? Does he regard the focus on literacy and numeracy in education as a critical component in that regard or is it nothing to do with the Department of Justice but entirely a matter for the Departments of Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science?

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