Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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523. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Irish Prison Service is in the process of shutting down the bakery workshop in Mountjoy; the reason for this; the projected annual costs of buying bread for the prisons from another source; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65064/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm the Irish Prison Service has decided to phase out the bakery workshop in Mountjoy Prison in the coming months. It will be replaced with a training facility to deliver certified training in baking skills to people in custody. Work Training Officers will be upskilled to deliver a Level 6 Special Purpose Award.

In addition to enhancing security, this change will reduce costs. Based on the current number of people in custody, the cost of providing bread to Dublin prisons is approximately €550,000 per annum. The present cost, based on ingredients and staffing, is approximately €660,000 per annum.

The IPS provides a range of purposeful activity and valuable skills to assist people on their journey to rehabilitation and employment on release. A wide range of training workshops operate within the prison estate e.g. printing, hairdressing, braille, woodwork, metalwork, construction, industrial cleaning, crafts, catering, waste management, laundry and horticulture. There are over 120 workshops and service activities across the prison estate with a current capacity (including gyms) of 1,784.

The Irish Prison Service has been expanding the number of accredited courses and opportunities available to people in custody through Work and Training in recent years. This has been achieved through enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies such as City and Guilds, the Guild of Cleaners & Launderers and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone, Cleanpass, and the National Construction Training Campus at Mount Lucas.