Vol. 520 No. 3
11 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the rehabilitation programmes provided in prisons for those convicted of domestic violence offences; the plans he has to ensure that treatment for such offenders is widely available and encouraged within the prison system in order to break the cycle of violence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15458/00]
The Prison Service provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes, many of which are available to the general body of prisoners. These have the dual purpose to provide prisoners with purposeful activity while serving their sentences and to encourage and equip them to lead non-offending lives on release.
The thinking skills course was introduced in Arbour Hill and Cork Prison early in 1998. It is designed to target a range of offenders including those convicted of domestic violence offences. The course is run by multi-disciplinary teams, including prison officers, probation and welfare staff and teaching staff under the guidance of the Department's psychology service. The skills taught in this programme include general strategies for recognising problems, analysing them and considering non-criminal alternatives, how to consider the consequences of their behaviour – to think before they act, how to go beyond their own view of the world and consider the thoughts and feelings of other people and how to develop the ability to control their own behaviour and avoid acting impulsively. It is anticipated that this programme will be rolled out in the Curragh Prison later this year and in other prisons over the next two to three years.
The alternatives to violence project is run in a number of prisons. It is an experiential programme to help prisoners learn new skills, alter their attitudes and move towards leading fulfilling and crime free lives. The project takes the form of weekend workshops. The aims are to build self-esteem and trust, improve communication skills, develop co-operative attitudes that avoid competitive conflict and allow people to try out new and creative ways of resolving conflicts.
It is widely acknowledged that addiction, particularly to alcohol, is a root cause of domestic violence. Addiction counselling is provided in conjunction with and by various outside agencies such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
The ultimate aim of the Prison Service is to develop and put in place a wide range of rehabilitative measures that will be made available to all prisoners, including those convicted of domestic violence offences. It is anticipated that completion of the prison building and refurbishment programme will greatly facilitate the provision of additional rehabilitative programmes for prisoners and the enhancement of existing programmes over the next two to three years.
I thank the Minister for his reply. How many offenders in prison convicted of violence against women are currently undertaking courses of the type he outlined? Is it his objective that all such offenders should be required during their sentences to take such courses? When will the recommendations of the report of the task force on violence against women be implemented?
With regard to the Deputy's last question, the Minister of State chaired the relevant committee. She and members of the committee have worked extremely hard on dealing with the issue of domestic violence. It would be remiss of me if I did not give her credit publicly for that. I know the amount of time she has devoted to it. She implements the recommendations of that report on an ongoing basis.
I contacted the director of the Prison Service on this query in anticipation of further questions Deputy Howlin might put to me, which at times can be difficult to anticipate. Unfortunately statistics are not maintained in such a way as to enable the precise information sought by the Deputy to be made available. At present the compilation and the analysis of statistics must be done manually as there are not computerised systems in most prisons.
The Minister might send on the information.
It is extremely time consuming and a labour intensive process for staff to compile such statistics manually. If I can get the information, I will give it to the Deputy. A new £6 million information technology programme has been provided for the Prison Service. That programme is well advanced. I hope that in future when a Minister for Justice is asked for statistics, such as those requested by the Deputy, the Minister will find it less embarrassing and will be in a position to supply them.
