Vol. 462 No. 6
104 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of prisoners in Mountjoy male prison, Dublin who are engaged in work; the average number of hours that each prisoner works each day; the number of prisoners who are engaged in education; and the average number of hours they are so engaged each day. [5194/96]
Currently, 87 male offenders at Mountjoy Prison participate in activities in the industrial workshops and a further 96 offenders participate in a range of other work activities, including grounds maintenance, cleaning, kitchen, bakery, trades, stores and a work party undertaking projects outside the prison. Following completion of upgrading works currently under way, there will be an opportunity within the next couple of months for an additional 39 offenders to participate in activities in the industrial workshops.
At present, workshop and other work activities extend on average to about four to 4.5 hours per day. When the upgraded industrial workshops come on stream, it is planned to increase working hours in them to 5.5 to six hours per day.
The number of male prisoners attending education at Mountjoy, as shown in a recent survey of participation in prison education, is 194. Of these, 97 attend for half or more of the full weekly programme (which is 22 hours), 60 attend for five to 11 hours of that programme and 37 were involved for less than five hours.
