Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on calls for a major reduction of the prison population through the use of non-custodial sentences for non-violent crimes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7261/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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It is my responsibility as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and that of my Department, to maintain and enhance community security and equality through the development of a range of policies and high quality services which underpin, inter alia, an effective and balanced approach to crime. That balanced approach, in addition to providing the resources and legislative provisions, requires that I make available a range of options for disposal of cases.

Addressing the root causes of crime is a multidimensional task, which falls within the areas of responsibility of a number of Departments. A number of risk factors have been identified as contributing factors to the causes of crime. These include neighbourhood and community factors; socioeconomic deprivation measured in part by poor housing and consistent poverty; family background-parenting; and individual factors such as lower than average IQ or low self-esteem and academic and school factors.

My Department supports and develops evidence-based preventative measures and interventions aimed at young offenders and those most at risk of offending. One of these measures is the Garda youth diversion projects. They are a community-based, multi-agency crime prevention, initiative which seeks to divert young persons from becoming involved or further involved in anti-social and/or criminal behaviour by providing suitable activities to facilitate personal development, promote civic responsibility and improve long-term employability prospects. By doing so, the projects also contribute to improving the quality of life within communities and enhancing Garda-community relations.

As the Deputy may be aware, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of these projects, from 12 in 1997 to 64 currently, a process made possible, in part, by funding under the National Development Plan 2000-2006. The locations of the new projects were decided upon according to local needs, prioritised by the Garda authorities, in conjunction with my Department. Funding of €5.471 million has been allocated to these and related projects in the current year. The National Crime Council was established in 1999 and its key roles are to focus on crime prevention, with particular emphasis on the underlying causes of crime and focus on raising public awareness of crime; examine the "fear of crime"; identify research priorities and undertake in-house research.

With regard to reducing the numbers of people serving prison sentences, under the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983, a court may make a community service order as an alternative to a sentence of imprisonment or detention in respect of any individual over the age of 16 years who has been convicted of a criminal offence and who consents to the order being made. The order requires an offender to perform unpaid work for between 40 and 240 hours, usually to be completed within 12 months. An offender may be rehabilitated through the discipline of having to work in the community and the making of meaningful reparation to that community for his or her crime. The Probation and Welfare Service of my Department supervises those offenders undergoing community service orders.

The making of a community service order is a matter entirely for the Judiciary and one in which I have no function. However, the courts have and do exercise wide discretion in using CSOs in dealing with people over 16 years of age who offend. It is used in practice for all age categories of offenders. Work projects are negotiated by the Probation and Welfare Service with a wide range of community and voluntary agencies, usually resulting from an approach by the agency but, when necessary, arising from an approach to an agency by the service. There are more than 70 such projects around the country. My Department will provide circa €14.5 million to them in current funding this year. These projects offer a range of educational and training opportunities, counselling and substance abuse programmes. The Probation and Welfare Service is also in the process of identifying where there may be room for more projects servicing different needs around the country.

The Children Act 2001 introduced a wide range of innovative measures that will provide a statutory framework for the future development of the juvenile justice system in accordance with modern thinking and best international practice. Three Departments have a role in implementing the Act; my Department and the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science. The National Children's Office has the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the Act and co-ordinating regular working group meetings.

It is an underlying concept of the Children Act to expand the options a court will have at its disposal when deciding on how to deal with a young offender. These options are an essential feature of the Act as they will allow effect to be given to the principle that detention for young offenders will be a last resort. Thus, the Act envisages committals to custody of young offenders being availed of only in situations where other alternative diversions and community-based options have been resorted to and have failed.