Patrick Costello
Question:594. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice when the planned review of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 will take place. [17575/22]
View answerTuesday, 5 April 2022
Questions (594)
Written answers
Non-custodial penalties, particularly supervised community sanctions, play a significant and important role in addressing criminality, reducing reoffending and providing a degree of protection to the public. This is supported by Central Statistics Office figures on recidivism.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform.
In September 2020, I established a high level working group including the Head of Criminal Justice Policy, the Director-General of the Irish Prison Service and the Director of the Probation Service to take forward the Government’s commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform.
The review is considering commitments and on-going developments across the justice sector and beyond, including those outlined in a number of relevant strategies. The completion of the review of the Community Service (Amendment) Act 2011 and the use of short custodial sentences forms part of the high level group’s ongoing work to review policy options for prison and penal reform.
In line with Justice Plan 2022, I intend to publish the Action Plan for Penal Reform in the coming weeks.