Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the reply of the Minister of State and the focus to which he referred, but his initial response to me and the House focused entirely on the in-prison education system. What I hoped would be focused on, which he indicated he was focused on it while in opposition, is preventing people ending up in prison in the first place. A collaborative effort between the Departments of Justice and Education is needed to deal with that. What sort of resources and what level of priority are going into that prevention phase of the work? It is like health education in the Department of Health - it is never regarded as a great priority. In health, they treat the disease rather than prevent it. It would be a really important part of the work of the Minister of State if we could have a co-ordinated and well-resourced strategy to stop people ending up in prison in the first place.

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