Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2012
69. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to adequately resource the Probation Service into the future to effectively administer the community return scheme and the increased volume of Community Service Orders following the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Community Service)(Amendment) Act 2011. [54469/12]
View answerThe Probation Service has restructured the delivery of community service nationally under the governance of a dedicated Community Service Unit. Besides the 9 dedicated administrative and probation staff of the Unit, there are 78 Probation Officers nation-wide whose range of duties include community service.
Community Service Supervisors are also employed to manage offenders undertaking community service on work projects. An earlier audit found that there was capacity from within existing resources to provide supervision services to three times as many offenders as were under their supervision at the time of the examination. Community Service Supervisors are now in a better position to meet the need for placements where required, and their workload has increased significantly to meet capacity requirements. There are currently 39.6 whole-time equivalent Supervisor posts filled, 3 of whom were recruited in 2011, a further 4 are being recruited at the present time, and there is provision for another 4 posts as and where the need arises.
The Probation Service continues to prioritise its workload and allocate resources as necessary to maximise its efficiency and effectiveness in administering community sanctions as an effective alternative to custody. This also includes working with high risk sex offenders and young people and those where the Service has a legislative mandate.
The Deputy can be assured that the Service will continue to have my full support in making greater use of community service to the benefit of prisoners and communities as an alternative to imprisonment.
