New scheme to teach prisoners how to retrofit homes

Simon Harris said the courses would provide prisoners with "the skills they need to get sustainable jobs on release, while also creating skilled workers to help deliver on our targets under Housing for All". 

A new training programme will see prisoners learn the skills necessary to retrofit homes under a new pilot scheme to help them enter the workforce upon release. 

The Retrofit Skills Course QQI Level 5 component award — a Department of Further and Higher Education programme — officially launched at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise and at Wheatfield Prison in Dublin on Monday.