WATCH User Voice founder Mark Johnson give evidence to Irish Justice Committee

Click below to watch User Voice founder Mark Johnson give evidence to the Irish Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality at the Houses of the Oireachtas on 27 February.

Mark outlined his vision for penal reform and presented the successful work of User Voice to date, discussing possibilities of User Voice expanding its work within the Criminal Justice System to Ireland.

Committee Chairman David Stanton, TD, said: “Today we had a very positive and enlightening meeting with Mark Johnson, founder of User Voice...

“...he provided us with a comprehensive and in-depth presentation on his experiences of crime and the penal system and outlined his vision for penal reform and a criminal justice system that would see offenders as key to their own rehabilitation, key to improving the system and instrumental in reducing offending."

You can now view the report of the sub-committee on penal reform in Ireland, released in April 2013 following public hearings, invited submissions and fact-finding trips to Irish prisons as well as abroad to observe the penal estate in Finland.

The report proposes a comprehensive 'decarceration' strategy, to be implemented and to effect a real improvement within a time-frame of 10 years. User Voice are mentioned on page 18.