The medium security Magilligan Prison in Co Derry
Ms McLaughlin was responding to a new report released by Northern Ireland’s Comptroller and Auditor General which found that the criminal justice system should adopt a more targeted and strategic approach to reduce rates of adult reoffending
Said the Foyle MLA: “Reducing reoffending should be a top priority for our justice system.
“The fact that 16% of adult offenders reoffended within twelve months in 2019-20 will be cause for real concern that our system is not effectively dealing with this complex issue.
“The failure to properly invest in rehabilitation programmes risks trapping people in a cycle of behaviour that is damaging not just to them but to wider society.
“In the context of extreme budgetary pressures, when the system itself is on the brink of collapse, I am really concerned that the type of initiatives that reduce reoffending and help to rehabilitate offenders will be deprioritised, despite the huge cost for reoffending in the longer term.
“This issue requires significant cross-departmental working to tackle the root causes of reoffending.
“That means investing in programmes around education and employment as well as dealing with challenges related to accommodation, mental ill health and substance misuse.
“We also need much more robust Northern Ireland specific-data and estimates around the economic and social cost of reoffending here.
“This is just one of the many issues that will be on the in-tray of the next Justice Minister and as the Stormont Opposition, the SDLP will be holding the department and wider Executive accountable for meaningful and realistic outcome-based performance measures so we can finally get to grips with this issue once and for all.”