Making progress with penal reform

Comments on recommendations by the Sub-Committee on Penal  Reform supporting a reversal of the expansionist approach to imprisonment in Ireland through: (1) the adoption of a decarceration strategy; (2) substituting community service for prison terms of less than six months for non-violent offences; (3) increasing the standard rate of remission; (4) provision of a modern legislative framework for all forms of early release; and (5) a rebalancing of the system, with greater use being made of open prison and all prisoners being held in decent conditions.