Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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572. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications for the female ex-prisoner Outlook Programme since it opened in July 2020; the number of admissions and refusals; the reasoning for refusals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10858/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the vision of the Outlook Programme is to promote the rehabilitation and re-integration of women leaving prison or on Probation Service supervision who have accommodation needs and require structured community  supports. 

The Programme, which is run in joint partnership with the Probation Service and managed by Focus Ireland, supports women serving sentences of imprisonment or on Probation Service supervision  who pose a low risk to society to gradually re-integrate into the community. 

The women the programme caters for are required to be drug free and have, in general, been convicted of one-off offences. 

Women prisoners who are identified as potentially suitable to live at the Outlook Programme are considered as part of regular Prisoner Sentence Management Review meetings. 

Since it’s opening on 10 May 2019, 34 women have accessed the Outlook Programme, this includes 30 women who accessed the Programme directly from the Dochas Centre, as well as 4 community based referrals, made by the Probation Service. The Outlook Programme has capacity for 10 women.