Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide the value for money audit report on National College of Art and Design courses that were available to prisoners until 2011; the amount of money that was spent on those courses each year by the Irish Prison Service until they were discontinued; and the number of prisoners who participated during each of those years. [13492/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by officials from the Irish Prison Service that there is no information to hand regarding any audit of the NCAD scheme in prisons. I am further informed that records of prisoner participation in National College of Art and Design courses are not maintained in such a way as to provide the specific information sought by the Deputy.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) is continuing to review its priorities for spending in the education budget and is targeting areas of greatest need and best potential outcomes. We have commenced a process of closer engagement with the Department of Education and the Education and Training Boards (ETB's) in order to bring a more coordinated approach to prison education including reviewing the curriculum being provided to prisoners.

The importance of arts and crafts classes for prisoners is fully acknowledged by the IPS as these classes are often the initial passage for prisoners to get involved in the education process. Many prisoners have very negative experiences of education in the community and it is only by attracting them into education units in prisons through these classes that other needs can be identified and addressed. Each Education Centre has the services of an Art teacher in addition to the 'Artists in Prison Scheme' which is run in conjunction with the Arts Council.

The Deputy may be aware of the IPS prisoner art exhibition which was held in the Hunt Museum in Limerick in late 2014 and in Dublin City Hall in January 2015. Both events were tremendous successes in the context of show casing the talents of those in custody and engaging prisoner's families in celebrating their achievements.

The average cost of the NCAD programme from 2005 to 2010 was €60,000 annually. Regrettably it is not possible in the current economic climate to continue to fund this level of expenditure.