Ms Ita Burke:

We made a lot of progress in this area over recent years. We feel it is by working collaboratively in an interagency way with the Garda and our colleagues in the Prison Service that we can be most effective. It starts at the pre-sentence stage where the Probation Service does a report for a court right through to the sentence management of that offender, targeting the areas which need to be addressed. That follows through then into their management in the community. With this Bill, we are particularly keen to bring SORAM on a statutory footing because it further strengthens those good practices. We have SORAM in all of the 28 Garda divisions. The Deputy asked about the coalface. This involves senior probation officers, gardaí, Tusla and the local authorities working together collaboratively for that public protection piece.

We also have had opportunities where we did joint training with all of those bodies. Even at its simplest, we are talking the same language and we want the same things, ensuring people know where they are coming from. Each of us has their own job to do but this is about us working together. While we are never saying we are there, we have made progress in this area. It is something we need to keep going on to be effective.