Ms Emily Logan:

That is a reasonable question. In the past there have been occasions when community sanctions have not been used and the Irish Penal Reform Trust, IPRT has been very strong on encouraging the Judiciary to use all other opportunities apart from detention, which should be seen as a last resort, to respond to offenders. There is a culture on how we deal with crime. We are still seeing young people being detained for a first offence. To be fair we all need to step up to the plate. Let us all play our part. Although we are a small office we would be happy to contribute, for example in staff training. If we could contribute to training of staff in any way, we would be happy to roll up our sleeves and do it. Everybody, whether members of the Judiciary, management of institutions or legislators needs to keep a keen interest in it. We should be evaluating it and hearing from the board before this starts to keep up the momentum.