Speech by Minister Harris at the Irish Prison Service Graduation Ceremony

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Dublin Castle - Tuesday, 28 February 2023

Thank you Professor Campbell.

I am delighted to be here this evening with my colleague Minister Browne, alongside the Chancellor of the University, Professor Prendergast, Professor Campbell (President South East Technological University (SETU)) Caron McCaffrey, (Director General of the Irish Prison Service), Mr. John Flavin (Governor of the Irish Prison Services College), Dr. Suzanne Denieffe (Head of School/Dean of Humanities), colleagues from the Irish Prison Services College and the Governors from the Irish Prison Estate.

Most importantly, I am delighted to be here this evening to welcome and congratulate, you the new graduates and your families.

It’s a real privilege to join you on this special evening and I’d like to congratulate all of you who are here tonight and, of course all of your fellow graduates who are unable to join us.

Your hard work and perseverance have led you to this proud moment in your lives.

A moment we are here to acknowledge and to celebrate with you.

A moment to share with your fellow officers and most especially with your family and friends, and it really is great to see so many of them here.

As I think of our graduates I am reminded of the saying “It takes a village”.

What that conveys is, that it takes many people “the village” to provide a safe, healthy and positive environment in which to live and develop.

An environment where people are given the security and support needed to grow and flourish.

For you, it is most likely your family and friends collectively created an environment which enabled and supported you in your journey to becoming a Prison Officer, in the Irish Prison Service.

And this evening is about you, and the team you are now part of.

It is about being the person your family and friends know you to be, one that, I have no doubt, they are very proud of.

Today is also about taking the learnings from your educational journey, along with the training you have received from the IPS and South East Technological University, and confidently taking that next step into your new work environment, to the team of the IPS and the people in your care.

As you take that step, it is important to remember that our prisons will not only be your place of work but, they are also a ‘village’, a community of colleagues.

A prison, as a work environment, is multi-dimensional with layers very different to many other workplaces.

Of course there is the ever present security dimension and, as Minister for Justice, I am acutely aware of the vital role you play in the criminal justice system.

Victims need to know that where serious crimes are committed, an appropriate sentence will be served.

Your job can be a dangerous one, and the government will always appreciate the job you do as emergency workers.

That’s why this week I announced my intention to increase the sentence for assaults causing harm to emergency workers such as you our prison officers, our Gardaí, hospital staff and others.

But there are many other layers which you, as Prison Officers, have a key role in shaping.

Clearly, running a prison requires legislation, policies, procedures and instructions so that good order, safety and security is maintained.

And while you will play a crucial role in delivering that safe, secure and orderly environment, the best prisons work where the environment created is about more than that.

Irish prisons now have a positive atmosphere of care and respect between those who live in prison and those who work there and part of your role is to bring that compassion and humanity to your work each and every day.

This layer creates an environment that helps people address their crimes and works with them to build a better more positive future for themselves and their communities.

The responsibility that you, as Prison Officers, have to show care, empathy and positivity as you go about your work, is what will make that lasting impact on the people you engage with every day.

Prison officers wear many hats – you have to be good listeners, coaches, authority figures, but above all else it means bringing compassion and humanity to your work each and every day.

Everybody understands that a prison is where a person must go to serve the sentence imposed by the courts.

But those of you here tonight understand that our prisons do much more than that, and they do it through the dedication and hard work of those, and others like you, who have chosen to work in our prisons.

Prisons enable rehabilitation, education, skills and talents to be developed, and ultimately, they can equip people with the tools and self-belief they need to make better choices for their future.

The role you will play is integral to all of these elements that make up the prison environment.

The Irish Prison Service is fully committed to ensuring all our new graduates fully understand the challenges of their role.

And it is challenging. It is complex and varied and at times difficult, but it is also highly rewarding.

I want to just focus for a moment more, if I may, on that latter point – the reward that comes from having a profoundly positive impact on the future of another person.

Working with people and encouraging them to make choices and apply themselves in a way that opens up opportunities for a better outcome for them, and for their families and their communities is something you will have the chance to do as part of your working day.

I know you won’t underestimate the very positive impact you can have on people as you go about your daily duties.

You will be the most accessible people they have in their lives, both as figures of authority, as someone to learn from, and as someone who cares.

I also know you won’t underestimate the many challenges you will face in maintaining good order in our prisons.

From your training, you know first-hand that the Irish Prison Service provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes to prisoners.

You will be supported by the Irish Prison Service in dealing with these challenges, and never be afraid to ask for help or support when you need it.

This is not just about providing meaningful activity and new skills to people, but is also about investing in them and encouraging them to lead law abiding lives on release.

Every staff member within the Irish Prison Service, has the ability to help people change their lives for the better, to assist their rehabilitation so that they, their family and our whole community are safer going forward.

As a government, we are committed to building a safe, secure and inclusive Ireland.

As I have said, this means that where people commit crimes, they serve the sentence that is handed down by the courts, as is fully appropriate. For people to have faith in our criminal justice system, they must see that there are appropriate punishments and consequences for criminal actions.

But, importantly, building stronger, safer communities requires we provide opportunities, including a second chance for those who need one. Fewer people re-offending fundamentally means fewer victims of crime.

The Programme for Government contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, and the Prison Service plays a key part in delivering that.

We had a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. Last year my department established a cross-sectoral group to undertake this work which was completed and published in August 2022.

This work is focused on reducing offending behaviour. Of course we want to divert people from the criminal justice system where possible, but we also understand that if a person is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, then we need to provide the right supports and opportunities to prevent a cycle of offending.

The work being carried out, especially under the Youth Justice Strategy and the Review of Penal Policy, is designed to help us, and by us I mean those of us across the criminal justice sector, achieve lower crime and recidivism rates.

It is about bringing meaningful and sustainable change to individuals and all our communities and I know this is something the Irish Prison Service strives to do, every day.

We know, and you know, that ultimately this will provide safer communities and better futures for everyone.

It’s that future that you, our new graduates, have a key role in helping us deliver.

For you, our graduates, my message this evening is very simple - I want to thank all of you for making this commitment to serving the State.

Your work will ultimately change lives for the better and contribute to building safer and stronger communities.

Thank you for choosing this important career and I wish you every success in your new roles.