The Belfast Agreement has had a huge impact on prison life in Northern Ireland, with 282 paramilitary prisoners released early from jail and 117 prison officers taking early retirement, the head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, Mr Robin Halward, has said.
The majority of prisoners released early were jailed in the Maze Prison. According to Northern Ireland Office statistics, 127 loyalists, 144 republicans and nine non-aligned prisoners have been released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Two H-blocks at the Maze Prison have closed as a result of the declining number of prisoners, and the jail will close within the next two years.
It costs £73,612 a year to keep a person in jail.
The annual report of the Northern Ireland Prison Service covers a period when there were two investigations into lapses of security following two murders, including the shooting of the LVF leader, Billy Wright, and one escape by a republican prisoner, Liam Averill, at the high-security Maze Prison.
A third investigation assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of the prison service in the North. However, the report by the British government's chief inspector of prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, was critical of security arrangements, ruling that the Maze Prison was not safe for prisoners or staff.
Some 1,100 prison officers will lose their jobs over the next two years, reducing the 2,500 staff total by nearly 40 per cent. Mr Halward admitted that it had been a very difficult time for prison officers, and praised them for working amid great uncertainty.
"It is to the credit of staff throughout the service that they continued to perform their duties so effectively against a background of considerable uncertainty," Mr Halward said.