I can inform the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service (IPS) provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes to those in custody including education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, addiction counselling, welfare and spiritual services. These programmes can offer purposeful activity to those in custody while serving their sentences and encouraging them to lead law abiding lives on release. Programmes are available in all prisons and all prisoners are eligible to engage with the services.
On committal, all prisoners are interviewed by the Governor and are informed of the services available in the prison. Prisoners may be referred to services or they can self-refer at a later date. Where Governors consider, on the information available, that a prisoner needs a particular intervention they will initiate a referral.
The strategic objective to have a multi-agency approach to offender management and rehabilitation from pre to post imprisonment in order to reduce re-offending and improve prisoner outcomes, forms a central part of the Prison and Probation Service Joint Strategic Plan.
The IPS Psychology Service operates an integrated, stepped care service model, working with both mental health and criminogenic risk and need. Currently, prison psychologists are engaging with between 620 - 650 people in custody which includes assessment and-or intervention which can be either group or individual rehabilitative programmes.
Education in prisons is delivered in partnership between the Education Training Boards and the IPS in line with the joint Strategy 2019 - 2021 which sets out a commitment to the provision of a broad and flexible curriculum and includes supporting integration and sentence planning.
The focus is on providing education which is quality assured, student centred and which facilitates lifelong learning. Data on the average weekly attendances in Prison Education Centres in 2020 is set out in Table 1 below. It is important to note that Education Centres were closed due to Covid-19 from March 2020 to August 2020.
The guiding principles of vocational training services are to make, work, work-training and other purposeful activities available to all those in custody. Training activities are designed to give as much variety as possible and also to give opportunities for those in prison to acquire practical skills which will help them secure employment on release. The average prison population engaged in vocational training in 2020 per prison is set out in Table 2.
The IPS has also been expanding the number of accredited courses and opportunities available to prisoners in Work Training in recent years. Enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies along with the centralising of coordination and quality assurance arrangements have enabled the prison service to extend the number of available courses and activities with certification to people in custody. Unfortunately, the manner in which records are collated does not allow the provision of statistics on those who were successful or unsuccessful applicants for such training.
Education Unit
|
2020
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JANUARY
|
FEBRUARY
|
SEPTEMBER
|
OCTOBER
|
NOVEMBER
|
DECEMBER
|
Arbour Hill
|
|
97
|
73
|
71
|
84
|
86
|
90
|
Castlerea
|
|
117
|
92
|
43
|
80
|
87
|
91
|
Cloverhill
|
|
73
|
54
|
25
|
46
|
57
|
46
|
Cork
|
|
139
|
112
|
45
|
82
|
94
|
88
|
Dochas
|
|
89
|
57
|
48
|
70
|
67
|
58
|
Limerick
|
|
115
|
88
|
69
|
86
|
49
|
79
|
Loughan
|
|
75
|
82
|
67
|
71
|
74
|
69
|
Midlands
|
|
350
|
279
|
183
|
274
|
139
|
280
|
Mountjoy
|
|
198
|
144
|
75
|
179
|
199
|
150
|
Portlaoise
|
|
140
|
94
|
110
|
131
|
126
|
127
|
Shelton Abbey
|
|
48
|
32
|
31
|
31
|
31
|
36
|
MJ West
|
|
96
|
70
|
54
|
78
|
89
|
96
|
Wheatfield
|
|
203
|
150
|
70
|
80
|
144
|
153
|
|
|
1740
|
1327
|
891
|
1292
|
1242
|
1363
|
|
January
|
February
|
March
|
April
|
May
|
June
|
July
|
August
|
September
|
October
|
November
|
December
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arbour Hill
|
72
|
74
|
60
|
57
|
61
|
62
|
65
|
65
|
62
|
55
|
53
|
59
|
Castlerea
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
59
|
60
|
50
|
52
|
54
|
60
|
59
|
58
|
71
|
Cloverhill
|
29
|
28
|
31
|
29
|
37
|
32
|
27
|
28
|
27
|
25
|
26
|
28
|
Cork
|
50
|
44
|
43
|
37
|
37
|
38
|
38
|
37
|
36
|
49
|
38
|
38
|
Dochas
|
59
|
61
|
53
|
40
|
40
|
40
|
41
|
41
|
41
|
46
|
41
|
45
|
Limerick
|
71
|
70
|
68
|
69
|
60
|
53
|
55
|
52
|
47
|
55
|
55
|
54
|
Loughan House
|
95
|
96
|
89
|
66
|
62
|
64
|
64
|
69
|
73
|
74
|
72
|
70
|
Midlands
|
182
|
184
|
151
|
120
|
124
|
132
|
138
|
151
|
130
|
146
|
137
|
143
|
Mountjoy
|
76
|
75
|
72
|
47
|
44
|
53
|
84
|
81
|
80
|
76
|
68
|
65
|
Portlaoise
|
51
|
54
|
53
|
51
|
48
|
52
|
55
|
56
|
60
|
59
|
56
|
49
|
Shelton Abbey
|
49
|
46
|
47
|
52
|
57
|
58
|
60
|
59
|
59
|
59
|
59
|
60
|
Wheatfield
|
97
|
107
|
94
|
75
|
77
|
65
|
74
|
76
|
69
|
72
|
74
|
73
|
|
831
|
838
|
761
|
700
|
708
|
699
|
751
|
770
|
744
|
774
|
736
|
755
|