Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 14 May 1998

Vol. 491 No. 2

Written Answers. - Sexual Offences.

Seán Barrett

Question:

15 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons in jail for sexual offences on 8 May 1998; the whereabouts of the offenders in question; the number who have received treatment; the number who are receiving treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11431/98]

Monica Barnes

Question:

29 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons in jail for sexual offences on 8 May 1998; the whereabouts of the offenders in question; the number who have received treatment; the number who are receiving treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11430/98]

Liz McManus

Question:

30 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisons or places of detention where prisoners convicted of sexual offences are held; the treatment services available for them in each location; the stage in sentence at which a prisoner can avail of treatment; the plans, if any, he has for extension of treatment facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11365/98]

Michael D. Higgins

Question:

40 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will increase the number of places for treatment available to convicted paedophiles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11504/98]

Louis J. Belton

Question:

50 Mr. Belton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons in jail for sexual offences on 8 May 1998; the whereabouts of the offenders in question; the number who have received treatment; the number who are receiving treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11432/98]

Ulick Burke

Question:

53 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons in jail for sexual offences on 8 May 1998; the whereabouts of the offenders in question; the number who have received treatment; the number who are receiving treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11433/98]

Theresa Ahearn

Question:

54 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons in jail for sexual offences on 8 May 1998; the whereabouts of the offenders in question; the number who have received treatment; the number who are receiving treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11434/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

I propose to take questions 15, 29, 30, 40, 50, 53 and 54 together.

There were 312 sex offenders in custody in prisons and places of detention on 8 May 1998. Of these, 280 were serving sentences with the remaining 32 in custody on remand, awaiting trial or awaiting sentencing. This includes a large number of offenders committed for sex offences against children. The numbers in the various institutions are as follows: Arbour Hill Prison, 98; Curragh Place of Detention, 92; Wheatfield Place of Detention, 64; Cork Prison, 18; Castlerea Place of Detention, 17; Mountjoy Prison 12; Limerick Prison 11.

Within the prison system there are, at present, two forms of therapeutic intervention available to all prisoners committed for sex offences against children or adults. Both forms of treatment are aimed at enabling such offenders gain a measure of control over their offending behaviour.

The first is individual counselling from my Department's clinical psychology service and from the Probation and Welfare Service. This form of therapeutic intervention is available in each institution to all sex offenders who seek it, with the temporary exception of those in the Curragh Place of Detention where it will be provided at the earliest opportunity. The number of offenders who have received this type of treatment cannot readily be quantified without a comprehensive survey my Department's clinical psychology service and the Probation and Welfare services. However, I can say that all offenders who seek individual counselling are provided with this service.

The second type of therapeutic intervention is an intensive offence focused group work programme which is available only in Arbour Hill Prison at the moment.

This programme can cater for up to ten offenders at one time and takes ten to 11 months to complete. The emphasis is on the offender accepting personal responsibility for the offence and on developing effective relapse prevention strategies. All convicted sex offenders who are in custody, irrespective of the institution in which they are accommodated, are invited to apply to participate in the programme. Those who apply are considered by the treatment team but not all are deemed suitable. Where more than ten offenders who have applied are deemed suitable, the places on the programme are allocated to those nearest the end of their sentence. The others are offered a place on a subsequent programme. To date 40 prisoners have participated in this programme.

One hears suggestions from time to time that all sex offenders should simply be compelled to avail themselves of treatment and that it is not good enough to confine treatment to those who volunteer. My advice is that while it is certainly valid to strongly encourage offenders to participate, compulsory treatment simply would not work. There would be no point — in fact it would be quite dangerous — in giving the impression that an offender about to be released was reasonably safe simply because he had been forced through a treatment programme.

I am keen to expand treatment programmes for sex offenders and my Department is actively examining the possibility of increasing the number of group treatment places available by locating a further group treatment programme for ten sex offenders at the Curragh. In view of the specialised skills necessary to set up and run such a programme, however, it will take some time to put a new programme in place.

A new non-therapeutic programme for offenders, "The Thinking Skills Training Programme", was introduced in Arbour Hill Prison earlier this year. A significant number of sex offenders in Arbour Hill have commenced this new programme. It is hoped to introduce a similar programme in Cork Prison in the near future. This programme is designed to target a range of offenders including sex offenders. The programme will be run by multi-disciplinary teams, including prison officers, probation and welfare staff and teaching staff under the guidance of my Department's psychology service. The skills in this new programme include: general strategies for recognising problems, analysing them and considering non-criminal alternatives; how to consider the consequences of their behaviour — to think before they act; how to go beyond their own view of the world and consider the thoughts and feelings of other people, and how to develop the ability to control their own behaviour and avoid acting impulsively.

Such structured interpersonal work with offenders represents a significant development of the role of the prison officer and a new and challenging development within the Prison Service.