Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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416. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners that participated in the integrated sentence management scheme from 2012 to 2014; if she will provide, in tabular form, the number of participants, broken down by prison and by year; and the number of scheme officers for each year. [15655/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it is not possible to provide the Deputy with the specific information requested as the Integrated Sentence Management System (ISMS) does not retain information in the format requested.

However, a snapshot taken from the Integrated Sentence Management System (ISMS) on 20 April 2015 records 2,997 active ISM cases at varying stages of the process from First Contact Assessment to Community Integration Plan, across the prison estate as set out in the table below. Over 6,460 prisoners have been offered participation in ISM since it began as a pilot project in 2008.

The appointment of ISM Coordinators to all locations concluded in March 2015. A total of 24 dedicated ISM Coordinators are now operational in all prisons and open centres. The allocation of dedicated staff in each establishment greatly enhances the effectiveness of the sentence management system and facilitates the growing numbers of prisoners participating in the process. To enhance consistency of delivery across the prison estate a dedicated ISM Coordinator training course was delivered in the IPS College in 2014.

Newly committed prisoners with a sentence of greater than one year are eligible to take part in Integrated Sentence Management (ISM). This involves a specific orientation in the delivery of services to prisoners and an emphasis on prisoners taking greater personal responsibility for their own development through active engagement with both specialist and non-specialist services in the prisons. The end result is a prisoner-centred, multi-disciplinary approach to working with prisoners with provision for initial assessment, goal setting and periodic review to measure progress.

Following committal the ISM Coordinator conducts a First Contact Assessment. This First Contact Assessment identifies the needs of the prisoner in several areas such as accommodation, education and offending behaviour. Referrals are made on foot of this assessment to services within the prison such as Education, Work/Training and outside agencies providing an in-reach service. The various actions recommended by these services are compiled into a Personal Integration Plan (PIP). This is a plan of actions for the prisoner to complete during his/her time in prison. The PIP will be reviewed regularly depending on the length of the sentence. Approximately 9 months prior to the release of the prisoner, a Community Integration Plan (CIP) will be developed. This sets out a plan for the prisoner to prepare for his/her release. Important issues such as accommodation, employment or education are addressed to help the prisoner resettle into the community on release and reduce the risk of re-offending.

The ISM process has played a key role in the success of the Community Return Scheme. ISM Coordinators are also active participants in sentence planning for certain categories of prisoners serving less than one year, for example, female prisoners, prisoners at risk of homelessness on release, or prisoners participating in the Community Support Scheme.