Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 222: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the specific steps he is taking and the timeline he has set for the implementation of the positive sentence management system in prisons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36717/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 223: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the specific steps he is taking and the timeline he has set for the provision of staffing and funding for the expansion of work training in the prison system, including the CONNECT project. [36718/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 224: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the roll-out of an acknowledged successful work training programme, such as the CONNECT project, is being further delayed, more than a year after the resolution of the industrial relations difficulties that led to it being halted and withdrawn; the reason it is dependent on the development of a system of positive sentence management in the prisons; and his views on reinstating the project in the interim at least in Limerick prison as recommended by the Inspector of Prisons. [36719/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 225: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will clarify his previous reply on the 18 October 2006, in which he states that the CONNECT project was launched in 2000 and was not funded by the European Union, when in a speech on 8 April 2002 it was stated that the pilot stage of the project commenced in 1998 and the extension of the project was launched in 2000, and that the pilot was EU funded; the amount of funding received from the EU in view of those comments; the way that funding was spent; if all funding available from the EU has been used; if the €58 million provision in the national development plan agreed to by the Government for the expansion of the CONNECT project was used; the way it has been used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36720/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 222 to 225, inclusive, together.

The CONNECT project was launched in 2000 as a part of the Prison Service Training and Development Programme under the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006. There is no separate budget for this programme and it was not funded by the European Union; all funding during the period 2000 to 2006 was provided annually by the exchequer as part of the Prisons Vote. This followed on from the piloting of the project from 1998 to 2000, which was carried out under funding from EU INTEGRA Employment Initiative. This EU funding related only to the piloting period and no EU funding was available to the project thereafter.

Expenditure since 2000 has gone 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 (NDTI), as well as meeting the cost of some capital works, notably the new laundry training facilities at Wheatfield Prison, and materials used in the manufacture of products in prison workshops for the Special Olympics in 2003. While the industrial relations and attendant financial difficulties during the period impacted on the CONNECT Project, the ongoing operation of the work training element, while somewhat constrained, resulted in the significant majority of the National Development Plan funding being expended.

The future roll out plans for the various elements of the CONNECT Project are being considered in the context of the elaboration of a system of Positive Sentence Management in the prisons. Specifically, the individual programme planning elements that were part of the project need to be more centrally located in the Prison Service's sentence management systems. Experience of the project was that while its original purpose was to assist prisoners in making vocational choices, in fact much work focussed on personal development which would assist prisoners pursuing a crime free life on their release. The work training elements envisaged under the project are currently being enhanced across the prison system. This involves the provision of dedicated new staffing and funding for the expansion of work training in the prison system, which will result in an increase in the number of authorised work training staff posts from c. 215 to c. 250.

A group to examine the elaboration of Positive Sentence Management has reported to the Director General of the Irish Prison Service. Their Report details a proposed model of sentence management based on multidisciplinary working. The Report also details a number of areas that require further work to underpin the process; these include assessment processes, information sharing systems and working relationships, both with the prisons and with the community. Piloting of the proposed system on an action research basis will begin in at least one institution in the coming month. The purpose of the piloting process is to further develop the system by getting feedback from prison-based staff on the practical operation of the structures and processes proposed. In parallel to the prison based piloting, working groups have also been established to examine specific elements of the underpinning processes (i.e. assessment and information sharing).

Finally, the work training elements envisaged under the CONNECT project at Limerick Prison are being developed as part of the overall expansion of work training in the prison system, which I have outlined above. The sentence management elements of the project will be addressed in the context of the roll-out of Positive Sentence Management.