Written Answers - Departmental Expenditure
Finian McGrath
Ceist:
293
Mr. F. McGrath
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the amount of finance which was spent on prisons in 2002; the amount spent in prisons on projects on preventing crime; the amount spent on treatment of prisoners who have drugs problems; and the amount spent by juvenile liaison officers on assisting violent and dysfunctional children who have come to the notice of the Garda.
[6732/03]
The appropriation account for the Irish Prison Service for 2002 is currently being finalised and as such the figures given in this reply are provisional. The outturn, including capital expenditure, for 2002 was €298 million.
The Irish Prison Service is committed to helping prisoners to develop their sense of responsibility and encouraging those attitudes and skills which will assist them to return to society with the best chance of leading law abiding and self-supporting lives after release.
The service employs a number of means to encourage prisoners to bring about positive development within themselves, including: individual and group counselling on offending issues; programmes in the areas of education, vocational training and lifeskills; drug treatment; specific programmes to address criminogenic factors, thinking skills, anger management and sex offenders treatment programmes; one-to-one counselling and support; and facilitating the involvement of voluntary organisations in providing appropriate prisoner support services. These programmes are delivered by a wide range of specialist services that operate in the prisons, such as psychologists, teachers, probation and welfare officers and prison officers. It is not possible to disaggregate, with any degree of accuracy, from the total Irish Prison Service spending, the element that relates to crime prevention measures or drug treatment services. However, the following brief explanation and approximate costs in relation to various programmes and specialist services may be of interest to the Deputy.
Education in prison is provided in partnership with a range of educational agencies in the community including the vocational education committees, public library services, colleges and the Arts Council. Broad programmes of education are made available which generally follow an adult education approach. Since the 1990s, most prison education units have become significantly involved in areas that address offending behaviour or the personal problems of prisoners, through pre-release courses, post-release support, health education, addiction awareness, anger management, group skills, parenting etc. Very often such courses or activities are run on a multi-disciplinary basis.
A sum of €1.1 million was expended on this service in 2002 – this figure does not include the salaries of the 215 whole-time equivalent teachers who work in the prison, who are paid from the Vote of the Department of Education.
The work and training programme operates at each prison. As well as organising necessary services such as catering and laundry, it also provides work and training opportunities for prisoners whilst ensuring a high quality of service delivery within the prison. The programme provides structured vocational training so that people in custody can acquire the skills they may require to obtain employment after their release. A sum of €2.4 million was expended on this programme in 2002, a further €500,000 was expended on manufacturing.
The objective of the Connect project is to create effective pathways for prisoners to follow from custody to employment after release. Central to this is the preparation of an individualised vocational programme plan which takes a holistic perspective towards prisoners vocational needs and which involves the prisoner in planning how to use the services that are available both inside and outside the prison system in a co-ordinated manner to achieve his/her goals. A sum of €6.517 million was expended on this project in 2002.
The probation and welfare service has an active role during the course of the prisoner's sentence in helping maintain links with family and community agencies, encouraging offenders to address their offending behaviour and engaging prisoners in individual counselling and group counselling programmes such as offending behaviour, addiction, violence and sex offending. The service also provides supervision in certain cases under temporary release provisions.
Prison chaplains promote the spiritual and pastoral welfare of prisoners and also participate with other services in the secular care of offenders. The work of the chaplaincy service involves extensive contact with prisoners on personal and family matters as well as other issues which arise in relation to their confinement in prison.
The principal aim of the psychology service is to provide, in co-operation with others, a generic therapeutic service to prisoners aimed at addressing their psychological needs and at reducing re-offending.
The prison service adopts a multi-faceted approach to drug treatment. This involves provision of detoxification, methadone maintenance, education programmes, an information forum, addiction counselling, drug therapy programmes and the operation of drug-free areas.
The Irish prison service expended €4.5 million on the provision of medical services to the prisoner population in 2002. It is not possible to further analyse this figure into the amount spent on treatment of prisoners who have drug problems.
A sex offender treatment programme has been operating in Arbour Hill Prison since 1994. A similar programme has been operating in the Curragh Place of Detention since 2000. Plans to develop a new multi-disciplinary sex offender treatment programme are well advanced. A steering group overseeing this work is in place with a research consultant engaged in preparing a treatment manual for this purpose. This programme will see prison officers directly engaged in co- delivering a structured rehabilitation programme for sex offenders.
The thinking skills course is an offending behaviour programme delivered by multi-disciplinary teams, including prison officers. The aim of the course is to equip participants with a range of problem-solving skills and social skills, that will make it easier for them to avoid criminal behaviour and to engage in legitimate activities.
The Children Act 2001 introduces a wide range of innovative measures that will provide a statutory framework for the future development of the juvenile justice system in accordance with modern thinking and best international practice. Three Government Departments have a role in implementing the Act; the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Education and Science.
The first commencement order under the Act in respect of my Department was signed by my predecessor on 23 April, 2002. The order, which came into force on 1 May 2002 provided for,inter alia, the establishment of the Garda diversion programme on a statutory basis and the introduction of a “Diversion Conference” based on restorative justice principles as pioneered in New Zealand. Garda juvenile liaison officers are specially trained members of the Garda Síochána responsible for administering the programme at the local level.
In relation to Part 4, sections 29 to 43 of the Children Act 2001, which concern the holding of Garda conferences in respect of an offending child, I am pleased to report that, in May 2002, a sum of €76,000 was provided to the Garda authorities to conduct further training of members and to further support the cost of conferencing. A further €56,180 was allocated to this purpose in November, 2002.
Garda youth diversion projects are crime prevention initiatives which adopt a multi-agency partnership approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour at community level. The role of these projects is to bring about the conditions whereby the behavioural patterns of young people towards law and order can develop and mature through positive interventions and interaction with the project.
Through a combination of intervention and prevention programmes, Garda youth diversion projects aim to prevent crime through community and multi-agency co-operation and to improve the quality of life within the community; divert young people from becoming involved in criminal/anti-social behaviour; provide suitable activities to facilitate personal development and encourage civic responsibility; support and improve Garda-community relations.
Project co-ordinators and advisory-management committees are required to regularly review and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the projects to ensure every effort is made to meet the overall aims and objectives of the project. The projects are particularly targeted at ten to 18 year-old "at risk" youths in communities where a specific need has been identified. The number of participants in each programme varies according to the level of intervention required.
There are a total of 64 Garda youth diversion projects operating in both urban and rural areas at present and funding of €5.577 million has been allocated to these projects in the current year.
