Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 514: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if funding for the Connect project at Mountjoy Prison has been cancelled or cut; and the extra funding being spent in 2005 to assist ex-prisoners re-enter the community. [9275/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Connect project was launched in 2000 as part of the Irish Prison Service training and development programme. The funding involved is provided annually by the Exchequer as part of the prisons Vote. Expenditure since 2000 has gone mainly to funding salary and incidental costs incurred in providing vocational training in the prisons and the provision of support to the project by the National Training and Development Institute, as well as meeting the cost of some capital works and materials used in the manufacture of products in prison workshops for the Special Olympics in 2003. The Connect projects at Mountjoy Prison, the Dóchas centre and the training unit were established with the support of the NTDI and are now capable of independent operation. A process of internal review during 2002 prompted a refocusing of the project prior to its roll-out to further institutions. In particular, the review identified the need for new management structures so as to better support the project's sentence management processes in the delivering institutions.

The Connect project is being rolled out at Limerick Prison with renewed NTDI support and the projects at Mountjoy Prison, the Dóchas Centre and the training unit, which have been affected by the current industrial relations and financial restrictions, will resume operations if and when there is a successful outcome to the current industrial relations process with the Prison Officers Association. Members of that association will shortly be balloting on the proposal for organisational change recently concluded with the Irish Prison Service at the Labour Relations Commission following lengthy negotiations.

The probation and welfare service also delivers group and individual programmes to address a range of rehabilitation and resettlement issues customised to meet agreed local needs in each prison. In almost all instances, group and individual programme work with prisoners is part of the normal duties of the probation and welfare service working in Irish prisons and, as such, the costs of same cannot be disaggregated from the overall cost of the service.