Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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423. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the number of times restorative justice was used in both adult and juvenile cases over the past five years, in tabular form. [19481/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the mechanism An Garda Síochána use to apply Restorative Cautions, which is in cases involving children (under 18 years), is the Formal Restorative Caution as per Section 26 of Children Act 2001.

Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers are trained as Restorative Justice Practitioners and in Mediation Skills in order to administer these cautions. These cautions are applied in cases when it is deemed appropriate to have the victim present at the caution where the harm done will be addressed and the offending child is invited to apologise.

I am advised by An Garda Síochána that a search of PULSE for recommendations for Restorative Caution linked to a Youth Referral since 2018 yielded the below figures.

I am further advised that the data is as available on the PULSE database on the morning of 21^stApril 2023, is operational and subject to change.

In relation to statistics for Pre-Sanction Reports undertaken by the Probation Service that include a Restorative Justice element, the information provided to me by the Probation Service from 2019 – 2022 (records began end 2018) is set out in the table below.

I can further advise the Deputy, that while the Probation Service endeavours to facilitate court ordered restorative justice interventions, this is possible only where all parties, including victims and offenders, agree to participate in such an intervention.

At present, due to limitations with existing IT systems, the Probation Service does not capture the number of times restorative justice interventions were subsequently used in adult and juvenile cases. The Service has recognised the need to advance data and ITC capability as a strategic priority for the organisation and is working with my Department to develop plans to meet these objectives over the coming year.