Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 2

Written Answers. - Rehabilitation of Prison Offenders.

Ivor Callely

Question:

144 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice if she has satisfied herself with the success of rehabilitation of offenders while in prison; the rehabilitation procedures currently in operation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14863/96]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

There are a number of services available in the prison system where offenders can avail of counselling and training with a view to their rehabilitation, i.e. the Psychology Service, the Probation and Welfare Service, the Chaplaincy Service and the Education and Work Training Services. As well as these there are a number of volountary groups with which offenders may have contact.

The psychology service which comprises six psychologists provides a service to offenders in the prisons. This service specially targets a number of offender groups within the Prison System, e.g.

— juvenile offenders

— sex offenders who require specialised treatment

— female offenders

— difficult, disruptive and dangerous offenders

— offenders who represent a known suicidal risk and

— offenders serving very long sentences.

One of the objectives of the Psychology Service is to participate in the implementation of pre-release programmes for offenders and to participate in the positive management of their sentences.

The Probation and Welfare Services provide a counselling service to offenders in the prisons. Their duties include counselling offenders, helping them cope with personal and domestic problems, guiding them towards services within and outside the prisons which will assist them in coping with specific problems such as substance addiction, encouraging contact with families and volunteers from the community, helping them generally to cope with their sentences, preparing them for eventual release, and very often putting in train arrangements in the community to help them re-integrate into that community.

The Probation and Welfare Service, in conjunction with the psychology service, is also involved in the delivery of specialised counselling by way of a sex offender treatment programme.

An Education Service which offers a wide curriculum to offenders is operated by the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Vocational Education Committees, the Public Library Services and other outside agencies. This service helps to prepare offenders for life after release by giving them an opportunity to access education at an appropriate level while serving their sentences.

A Work-Training Service is also provided. The service insists on high and up-to-date standards in the work which offenders do and in the training they undergo. Both the work and the training must produce skills which are relevant for offenders after they leave prison and must meet the requirements of the modern workplace.

There are at present nine full-time and seven part-time chaplains working in the prison service. Their work involves extensive counselling of offenders, not just in spiritual matters but in everyday human activity — assisting in their rehabilitation and helping them to cope with personal and family traumas. I am satisfied that all these services work well together in assisting the rehabilitation of offenders.

The above services are complemented by a number of voluntary groups with whom offenders may have contact. There is quite a number of those groups and it would be invidious of me to single out any one of them for mention here. I would, however, like to put on record my appreciation of the very good work they do.

I recognise, of course, that recidivism is likely to remain a feature of behaviour amongst those inclined towards criminal activity but I am committed to take whatever action seems likely to prove beneficial to minimise its impact both on the individuals concerned and on society as a whole.