Written Answers. - Sexual Offenders.
Michael Bell
Ceist:
27
Mr. Bell
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the number of sex offenders in prisons who are on waiting lists for treatment; the number in receipt of treatment; the steps, if any, being taken to provide additional places; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[3043/99]
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:
52
Mr. Gilmore
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the treatment available for sexual offenders in prisons; the number of places available; the plans, if any, there are to extend the number of places; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[3056/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 52 together.
There are at present 29 full-time professionals and two consultants involved in rehabilitation programmes for sex offenders in prisons. Four of these are working on the dedicated sex offender treatment programme in Arbour Hill Prison and the remainder are involved in one to one counselling.
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 sex offender treatment programme in Arbour Hill Prison. Those who apply are considered by the treatment team but not all are found to be suitable. All sex offenders are encouraged to avail of treatment. However, they cannot be compelled to attend, nor do they receive any extra concessions for attending. It is suggested 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. The professional advice given to me is that while it is certainly valid to 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.
The sex offender treatment programme in Arbour Hill can cater for up to ten offenders at any one time and takes ten to eleven months to complete. The emphasis is on the offender accepting personal responsibility for the offence and on developing effective relapse prevention strategies. Where more than ten offenders who have applied are considered suitable, the places on the next programme are allocated to those nearest the end of their sentence. The others are offered a place on a subsequent programme. There are currently ten offenders undergoing this programme in Arbour Hill prison in addition to 43 offenders undergoing one to one counselling provided by my Department's clinical psychology service and the probation and welfare service. At present there are 26 offenders waiting to take part in the programme in Arbour Hill and 20 offenders are awaiting one to one counselling.
I am determined to increase the number of group treatment places available to sex offenders and, to this end, my Department is examining the possibility of locating a further group treatment programme for ten sex offenders at the Curragh place of detention. In view of the specialised skills necessary to set up and run such a programme, it is taking some time to put a new programme in place. Of course, as I have already said, any prisoner currently there may apply to participate in the dedicated treatment programme in Arbour Hill.
A new non-therapeutic programme for offenders – The Thinking Skills Training Programme was introduced in Arbour Hill Prison early in 1998. A significant number of sex offenders in Arbour Hill have commenced this new programme. A similar programme has also been introduced in Cork prison.
My Department has also commissioned the clinical psychology department at University College Dublin to conduct a detailed evaluation of the group treatment programme at Arbour Hill. This will take a number of years to complete and should eventually provide empirical data that demonstrates the efficacy of treatment, as measured by reduced recidivism amongst treated offenders compared to an untreated group.
