Written answers

Tuesday, 11 July 2023

Department of Justice and Equality

Prison Service

All Written Answers on 11 Jul 2023 « Previous answer Next answer »

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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96. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions she will take, following the ‘Summary of the Inspection on Education and Work Training April-June 2022’ in our prisons completed by the Inspector of Prisons, to ensure that the key issues on work training highlighted in the summary will be addressed; when she expects that these issues will no longer be highlighted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33962/23]

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service has developed an Action Plan in response to the Office of the Inspector of Prisons “Thematic Inspection on Education & Work Training, April – June 2022 report”.The Action Plan outlines a summary of actions proposed by the Irish Prison Service to address recommendations made by the Inspectorate. Both the Office of Inspector of Prisons “Thematic Inspection on Education & Work Training, April – June 2022 report” and the Irish Prison Service Action Plan have been published and are available on Gov.ie

A key recommendation in the Office of the Inspector of Prisons Report was the need for a more strategic approach to education and work/training to facilitate rehabilitation.I can advise the Deputy that the Prison Education Taskforce was established on 23 May 2023 and is jointly chaired by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris and the Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform in the Department of Justice, James Browne.The aim of the Taskforce is to ensure improvements in the work and training area and greater alignment between prison education and the tertiary education system to support prisoners in benefiting from education and training opportunities while in custody to support their rehabilitation and access to employment post-release.

The Prison Education Taskforce Workplan strategic objectives include;

  • enhancing the understanding of the education, training needs of the prison population, strengthening information and reporting on education and training delivered in prisons,
  • realising the potential for greater alignment across the prison education and training services and tertiary provision to ensure labour market readiness for prisoners on release,
  • deepening and intensifying existing partnerships between the prison education and the tertiary education system,
  • ensuring the role of education and training system in supporting transition of prisoners out of the prison system is maximised to reduce recidivism risk,
  • supporting Open University provision and other Higher Education linkages and to explore potential for educational programmes for family members of prisoners.
Another key recommendation made by the Inspector was the need for improvement of access to education and work and training services.I am advised by the Irish Prison Service, a key challenge for the Irish Prison Service is to ensure that prisoners have regular and consistent access to the Prison Education Centre and Work and Training programmes. The loss of a substantial number of staff on a daily basis to cover court escort activity and hospital in-patient and out-patient appointments can have an adverse impact on the opening of schools and work and training programmes. Additionally Increases in the prison population have also contributed to an increase in escorts and increase demands on staff.

In order to minimise impact on services, the Prison Service is committed to strengthening the numbers of staff assigned to the Prison Service Escort Corps to limit the burden on prison based staff being reassigned to escorting duties. Under Budget 2023, a €6.5m additional staffing package was secured for the Prison Service to provide for additional staff recruitment to support rehabilitation and training. Pending the recruitment of additional staff and with effect from September 2022, additional hours were and will continue to be made available at prison level to support improvements in opening hours and access to services including education services.

A number of vacancies have been filled for Work and Training grades, further competitions are scheduled for Q3 2023.

I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service negotiated the inclusion in the Public Service Agreement: Building Momentum 2021 – 2022 the ability to directly recruit Work Training Officers. The Irish Prison Service are committed to progressing this external recruitment and have been engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in this regard.

Balancing the demands for “digital literacy” among prisoners with security constraints is an ongoing challenge for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service continues to work with the Education and Training Boards and other Prisoner Services to make greater use of in-cell learning opportunities. Embracing technology and providing a blended approach to learning increases the ability of teachers and Work and Training Officers to extend education and training provision to students, especially to those on restricted prison regimes or confined to cell due to, for example, infection control measures.

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Photo of Francis Noel DuffyFrancis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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97. To ask the Taoiseach the recidivism rates in all Irish prisons. [33913/23]

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office compiles official statistics on Prison Reoffending on an annual basis. The CSO does not currently include in its prison reoffending statistics any breakdown of reoffending by prison location because the prison where releases are registered taking place can differ from the prison location where individuals spend the majority of their custodial sentences. The Prison Reoffending publication does provide statistics on the number of individuals that are convicted of reoffending within one and three years of release from custody, classified by both personal and justice related characteristics including offence type, reoffending offence type and dwelling location at the time of their release, as recorded by The Irish Prison Service. Table 1.3 (Prison reoffending, 2019) provides the most recent statistics of the one-year reoffending rates of individuals classified by their county of residence at the time of their release. Statistics of one-year reoffending rates for individuals released from custody in 2020 is scheduled for publication shortly (11thJuly 2023).

Table 1.3 Individuals released from custody classified by 1-year re-offending indicator and county1, 2019

Re-offence within one year Re-offending2 rate
Regional Authority Area/County Yes No Total %
State 1,794 2,232 4,026 44.6
Border 68 108 176 38.6
Cavan 19 29 48 39.6
Donegal 13 28 41 31.7
Leitrim 8 8 16 50.0
Monaghan 21 19 40 52.5
Sligo 7 24 31 22.6
Dublin 627 835 1,462 42.9
Mid-East 152 244 396 38.4
Kildare 46 71 117 39.3
Louth 39 51 90 43.3
Meath 34 74 108 31.5
Wicklow 33 48 81 40.7
Midland 97 119 216 44.9
Laois 30 45 75 40.0
Longford 23 14 37 62.2
Offaly 17 24 41 41.5
Westmeath 27 36 63 42.9
Mid-West 198 204 402 49.3
Clare 41 51 92 44.6
Limerick 101 104 205 49.3
Tipperary 56 49 105 53.3
South-East 134 148 282 47.5
Carlow 29 28 57 50.9
Kilkenny 22 20 42 52.4
Waterford 37 37 74 50.0
Wexford 46 63 109 42.2
South-West 281 255 536 52.4
Cork 234 220 454 51.5
Kerry 47 35 82 57.3
West 79 110 189 41.8
Galway 57 71 128 44.5
Mayo 9 22 31 29.0
Roscommon 13 17 30 43.3

1Offenders with addresses outside the jurisdiction are not included in this analysis at county or regional level but are included in the state figure.

2See background notes.

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Photo of Francis Noel DuffyFrancis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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98. To ask the Taoiseach if a geographic breakdown of the origin of repeat offenders exists and if so, if he will supply this data. [33914/23]

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office compiles official statistics on Prison and Probation Reoffendingon an annual basis. The CSO does not publish reoffending statistics classified by the geographical origin of repeat offenders. Information relating to the origin of an individual such as their original nationality, citizenship or birth location within Ireland is not available from the Irish Prison or Probation Service or Garda PULSE data that CSO use to compile the reoffending estimates. The Prison and Probation Reoffendingseries provides statistics on the number of individuals that are convicted of reoffending within one and three years of release from custody or probation, classified by both personal and justice related characteristics including offence type, reoffending offence type and dwelling location at the time of release or probation, as recorded by The Irish Prison or Probation Service. Table 1.3 (Prison reoffending, 2019) and Table 2.2 (Probation reoffending, 2018) below provides the most recent statistics of the one-year reoffending rates of individuals classified by their county of residence at the time of their release or probation supervision. Statistics of one-year reoffending rates for individuals released from custody in 2020 is scheduled for publication shortly (11thJuly 2023) and Probation reoffending estimates for 2019 are scheduled for publication in November 2023.

Table 1.3 Individuals released from custody classified by 1-year re-offending indicator and county1, 2019

Re-offence within one year Re-offending2 rate
Regional Authority Area/County Yes No Total %
State 1,794 2,232 4,026 44.6
Border 68 108 176 38.6
Cavan 19 29 48 39.6
Donegal 13 28 41 31.7
Leitrim 8 8 16 50.0
Monaghan 21 19 40 52.5
Sligo 7 24 31 22.6
Dublin 627 835 1,462 42.9
Mid-East 152 244 396 38.4
Kildare 46 71 117 39.3
Louth 39 51 90 43.3
Meath 34 74 108 31.5
Wicklow 33 48 81 40.7
Midland 97 119 216 44.9
Laois 30 45 75 40.0
Longford 23 14 37 62.2
Offaly 17 24 41 41.5
Westmeath 27 36 63 42.9
Mid-West 198 204 402 49.3
Clare 41 51 92 44.6
Limerick 101 104 205 49.3
Tipperary 56 49 105 53.3
South-East 134 148 282 47.5
Carlow 29 28 57 50.9
Kilkenny 22 20 42 52.4
Waterford 37 37 74 50.0
Wexford 46 63 109 42.2
South-West 281 255 536 52.4
Cork 234 220 454 51.5
Kerry 47 35 82 57.3
West 79 110 189 41.8
Galway 57 71 128 44.5
Mayo 9 22 31 29.0
Roscommon 13 17 30 43.3

1Offenders with addresses outside the jurisdiction are not included in this analysis at county or regional level but are included in the state figure.

2See background notes.

Table 2.2 Probation re-offending rate by regional authority area and county of residence of offender1, 2018

Re-offence within one year Re-offending2 rate
Regional Authority Area/County Yes No Total %
State 1,355 3,644 4,999 27
Border 112 371 483 23
Cavan 44 122 166 27
Donegal 25 131 156 16
Leitrim 3 12 15 20
Monaghan 24 73 97 25
Sligo 16 33 49 33
Dublin 432 1103 1,535 28
Mid-East 94 363 457 21
Kildare 23 97 120 15
Louth 29 108 137 29
Meath 11 45 56 31
Wicklow 31 113 144 26
Midland 85 265 350 28
Laois 27 68 95 29
Longford 25 66 91 28
Offaly 13 67 80 27
Westmeath 20 64 84 28
Mid-West 177 415 592 34
Clare 35 88 123 31
Limerick 100 203 303 32
Tipperary 42 124 166 39
South-East 151 401 552 28
Carlow 27 76 103 22
Kilkenny 43 98 141 33
Waterford 46 98 144 27
Wexford 35 129 164 29
South-West 227 474 701 34
Cork 215 423 638 34
Kerry 12 51 63 29
West 76 242 318 23
Galway 53 141 194 30
Mayo 12 58 70 10
Roscommon 11 43 54 12

1Offenders with addresses outside the jurisdiction are not included in this analysis.

2See background notes.

Does this answer the above question?
Yes! 2 people think so!
No! 1 person thinks not!

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