Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on suggestions (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9528/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that under the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act, 1983 the Courts may order the performance of unpaid work in the community by a person who is 16 years or over, who has been convicted of an offence for which the appropriate penalty would be an immediate custodial sentence and who has given his/her consent to the Court and this would appear to deal with the matter raised. In addition, I am at present preparing a Fines Bill which I intend to publish in the near future. The Bill will include a provision extending the power of the courts to make a community service order to the situation where a person defaults on payment of a fine.

A community service order requires an offender to perform unpaid work for between 40 and 240 hours, usually to be completed within 12 months. The aim of a community service order is to rehabilitate the offender and bring about meaningful reparation to the community for his or her crime. The Probation Service of my Department has responsibility for the supervision and management of these orders.

A Value for Money and Policy Review by an independent evaluator of the operation of the Community Service Scheme is being finalised. The outcome of the independent review will of course inform how we can utilise the Scheme to best effect thus ensuring value for money and a more meaningful contribution to the community.