Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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63. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide an update on the Building Pathways Together programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36682/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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In November 2024, my Department launched ‘Building Pathways Together: Criminal Justice Reintegration Through Employment Strategy 2025-2027’. This builds on the strong foundations laid by the 2017 Social Enterprise strategy ‘A New Way Forward’, and the 2020 ‘Working to Change’ strategy. The aim of this strategy is to remove barriers to employment for people with a criminal conviction and to increase opportunities for employment. It seeks to provide effective interventions to ensure people have the appropriate supports and opportunities available to them. It underscores a renewed cross-sectoral commitment to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with criminal convictions.

The strategy has been developed by my Department, in conjunction with the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service, and in consultation with key stakeholders including Government Departments, agencies, and those with lived experience of the criminal justice system and have faced barriers to reintegration. Work has commenced on the implementation phase of the strategy in 2025. The first meetings of the Criminal Justice Employment Advisory Committee and the Criminal Justice Employer’s Network took place in June.

The Irish Prison Service advises me that work, training and education is available in all prisons. Work and training in prisons is provided by Work and Training Officers and provides a range of purposeful activities in areas such as catering, laundry, industrial cleaning and industrial skills. The Irish Prison Service has expanded the number of accredited courses and opportunities available in this area to meet contemporary skill requirements for employment in the community.

Programmes of education are provided in prisons in partnership with the Education and Training Boards. Supports and services provided include basic literacy and numeracy education provision, state exams and third level qualifications. The Programme for Government includes continued implementation of the Prison Education Taskforce which was established in May 2023. The taskforce is co-chaired by Ministers from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

Taken together, these important initiatives represent a coherent approach to breaking the cycle of offending behaviour by providing integrated work, training and education opportunities to support desistance.