Vol. 541 No. 2
152 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps which are being taken to ensure that suitable treatment is available to all sex offenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22023/01]
There are four forms of direct therapeutic intervention available to sex offenders within the prison system at present, including individual counselling from the Department's psychology service and from the probation and welfare service; the multi-disciplinary thinking skills group work programme in Cork, Arbour Hill and the Curragh; and the intensive offence focused group work programme. This has been in operation in Arbour Hill Prison since 1994 and was intro duced in the Curragh earlier this year. The programme in Arbour Hill caters for ten prisoners at a time and the programme in the Curragh caters for eight prisoners at a time. The psychiatric service provides extensive support to prisoners in this category. Many offenders would have availed of one or more of the forms of intervention referred to.
The ultimate objective for the prisons service is to develop and put in place a wider range of rehabilitation programmes for sex offenders than are currently available to ensure they operate on independently accredited selection, training and service methods and that they reach every sex offender in custody who is willing to participate at some level in their personal rehabilitation and relapse prevention. The latter point about willingness by prisoners convicted of sex offences to co-operate in personal rehabilitation programmes is significant because it is the experience in many prison jurisdictions, including Ireland, that a significant percentage of prisoners decline the opportunity to partake in this work. Compulsion is not a realistic or, indeed, legal option in such cases.
I have asked the director general of the prisons service to ensure that the treatment of sex offenders throughout the prison system is given priority attention. A steering group to put in place multi-disciplinary prisoner programmes has been established by the director general of the prisons service. This group, chaired by a senior prison governor, comprises representatives from my Department, senior prisons service management, probation and welfare service, psychology service, prisons education and the Prison Officer's Association. Its first task will be to oversee the establishment of a new intensive rehabilitative programme for sex offenders. This programme will be delivered by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of prison officers, psychologists, probation and welfare staff and teachers. To this end the prisons service has recruited the services of a research psychologist to assist in the development of this programme. The report has been produced and is currently being examined by the steering committee. It is hoped that this report will be published by mid-November.
I wish to add that a major review of the effectiveness of the intensive Arbour Hill sex offender programme is currently under way between the psychology service of my Department and the Department of Psychology, University College Dublin.
The Sex Offenders Act, 2001, came into effect on 27 September 2001. One of the provisions of the Act allows the courts, in determining the sentence to be imposed on a sex offender, to consider whether to impose a sentence involving post-release supervision having regard to the need to rehabilitate or further rehabilitate the offender.
