Placement scheme for ex-inmates praised

A scheme which was introduced to help ex-offenders to rehabilitate themselves back into society has seen almost half of them in full-time employment.

More than 2,300 former prisoners have participated in the Linkage programme, and 48 per cent of them are in full-time work, mostly in construction or in the services sector.

A total of 1,200 firms have been involved in the programme since its inception in 2000.

Linkage programme manager Paddy Richardson said that employers had found that employing ex-offenders was a positive experience.

He explained: "We concentrated on the quality rather than the quantity of placements. We do quite an amount of work to ensure that we make the appropriate match.

"There is a huge amount of highly-motivated, skilled people who are anxious to change their lives and work. It's not just some charitable thing that employers are doing. I don't believe that any decision was made placing anybody unless it was a commercial one.

"We invite employers to come back to us if there are difficulties, but very few of them do, which is a good thing."

The Prison Service has referred more than 5,000 ex-offenders to the scheme, but more than half declined to participate, while a further 900 are waiting for placements.

Of those who participated, 70 per cent have held their placements, and very few have gone on to reoffend.

The programme has been operating since 2000. It is run by Business in the Community Ireland and the Probation Service.

Introducing its annual report yesterday, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said that the programme had been instrumental in helping ex-offenders to go straight at relatively little cost to the State. Each placement costs the State €2,250, which compares with €90,000 per annum for a person in custodial care.

"The ultimate objective of the programme is to assist ex-offenders with reintegrating into the working community," Mr McDowell said.

"By assessing their needs, offering concrete support systems and establishing direct links to employers, the programme has succeeded in assisting ex-offenders to turn their lives around."