Vol. 509 No. 1
296 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when proposals arising from the report on the probation and welfare service will be brought before Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19726/99]
The final report of the expert group on the Probation and Welfare Service, published on 3 August 1999, has 30 recommendations. Discussions with service management and staff interests – unions – will be undertaken, following on which decisions will be made and proposals brought to Government.
The implementation of the recommendations of the first report, as agreed with the service is ongoing and while progress, in some cases, is somewhat slower than anticipated, every effort is being made to have them implemented as quickly as possible.
A competition has been advertised by the Civil Service Commission for the recruitment of probation and welfare officers. Information technology is being developed, and the issue of insurance is being examined, so as to correct the difficulties which have arisen in the area of the community service order work requirements. The public relations development is under active consideration and appropriate professional interests will be invited to tender for this work as soon as the necessary funding is obtained.
