A High Court judge has said he is "shocked" at the lack of support provided by the probation services to prisoners who may wish to rehabilitate.
Mr Justice Kinlen at the Central Criminal Court said the Probation and Welfare Services could not "wash their hands" of the situation. He said prisoners were being moved from one prison to another and from one probation officer to another. He also said there was "an appalling" lack of alcohol awareness programmes in Mountjoy Prison.
Mr Justice Kinlen made his remarks after senior probation officer Ms Ursula Fernee told him a paedophile before the court had not availed of therapy offered to him. He said prisoners should not just be informed but encouraged to join such programmes because many were uneducated or suffered from addictions.