Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects to expand the community restorative projects in Tallaght, Dublin 24, and Nenagh, County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31241/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Following examination of the final report provided by the National Commission on Restorative Justice my Department, through the Probation Service, introduced a scheme to test a range of restorative interventions for adult offenders based on the recommendations contained in the report.

The scheme involves the expansion of both the Nenagh and the Tallaght projects. The Nenagh Community Reparation project has been expanded into Districts Courts in Tipperary Town, Borrisokane and Roscrea. The Tallaght based project has been expanded to the Criminal Courts of Justice and to Courts in South Co. Dublin.

The objective of the scheme is to build the foundation for the implementation of a robust restorative justice model of practice providing an alternative to a prison sentence of less than 12 months duration. This will test the model's ability to manage up to 100 adult offenders by Community Reparation and up to 300 by the Restorative Justice Service.

The Probation Service will monitor, oversee, and evaluate the implementation of the scheme and will provide a report on the effectiveness and value for money of the model after a 12 month operational period. The Deputy can be assured that my focus is to encourage the use, to the greatest extent possible, of the menu of non-custodial options available to the courts. I believe the restorative justice concept has a place in that range of available options.