asked the Minister for Justice the innovations that have been introduced into the prison service during the past year; and whether directors of education and employment have been appointed.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Prison Service.
76.
As regards the appointment of a co-ordinator of education and a co-ordinator of work and training for prisons, the posts have been advertised, the closing date for applications has passed and the Civil Service Commission are now setting up interview boards to sit towards the end of the month and it is expected that appointments can be made in the near future.
The administration of the prisons necessarily involves the taking of many decisions from day to day, some of which could be described as "innovations" but it would not be practicable to list the many decisions taken in the course of the past year. Moreover, I think it would be positively undesirable to try to link the concept of progress in penal administration with the idea of "innovations". As I have pointed out on several occasions, progress in the penal field in this as in other countries is an on-going process which necessarily consists in gradual development rather than in sudden changes. When introducing the debate on the Estimates for my Department earlier this year—Official Report, columns 522-539—I gave an indication of my aims in the penal field. Progress has been steady since then.
Question No. 77 postponed.