Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 403: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the programmes in place in prisons to provide treatment for convicted sex offenders; the details of the programmes and the prisons in which they are available; and the number of sex offenders engaged in such programmes. [22933/09]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 404: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of convicted sex offenders in prison; the prisons in which they are held; the number convicted of sex offences against children and against adults; and the number of such offenders due for release or expected to be released within 12 months. [22934/09]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of convicted sex offenders released from prison in the past ten years; the number of such offenders subject to supervision; and the nature of such supervision. [22935/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 403 to 405, inclusive, together.

The Deputy will be aware that on 22 April 2009 I announced a new policy on the management of sex offenders in prison. The new policy document is available on the website of the Irish Prison Service (www.irishprisons.ie). The policy is aimed at bringing about changes in offenders' lives that reduce risk of re-offending and enhance public protection. It forms an integral of the wider range of interventions by criminal justice and community-based agencies. Therapeutic interventions with convicted sex offenders comprise notably one-to-one interventions, offence-related group interventions, approved in-reach services and interventions available to prisoners generally.

Individual therapeutic work with sex offenders serves a number of functions, including support for offenders in their early commitment to change and integration and extension of progress made in group work. It also has a key role in addressing the risks and needs of offenders who are unable to undertake group programmes. Individual counselling is provided in all prisons that accommodate sex offenders by the Psychology Service of the Irish Prison Service and by the Probation Service.

A new programme of group interventions commenced in January 2009. The programme, "Building Better Lives", comprises three modules: exploratory open groups ("Exploring Better Lives"); practice open groups ("Practising Better Lives"), and maintenance groups ("Maintaining Better Lives"). The programme replaces the Sex Offender Programme initiated in 1994 and concluded last year, allowing more responsive and flexible delivery to a greater number of offenders. The programme is delivered in Arbour Hill Prison and offenders will be transferred there from other prisons in order to avail of it. The new approach allows for interventions to take greater account of individual risk, needs and capacity. Higher risk offenders, for example, can spend longer on offence-based work, if necessary.

The number of offenders in each group will average 8. Three exploratory, two practice and two-to-three maintenance groups are envisaged per annum, allowing interventions with up to 60 offenders when fully operational. To date, six offenders have completed the first module and another eight offenders are currently doing so. The practice group will begin shortly.

The Irish Prison Service recognises the potential for community-based services to provide interventions with this group of offenders and is committed to exploring the potential of community and voluntary groups to engage with sex offenders within the prison environment. Their participation will be within the framework described above and require commitments such as liaising with and reporting to the Irish Prison Service. Interventions in 2009 will include motivational enhancement groups provided by the Granada Institute in the Midlands and Wheatfield prisons and interventions with young sex offenders provided by the Northside Inter-Agency Project (NIAP) in St Patrick's Institution. These interventions will be provided with financial support from the Dormant Accounts Fund.

Sex offenders will continue to benefit from other group programmes not specifically designed for sex offenders but addressing their needs, including stress management, anger management and cognitive skills training, as well as interventions by visiting psychiatrists.

The compilation of specific statistics relating to the number of sex offenders released in the last 10 years would take an inordinate amount of staff time and could not be justified given other demands on resources. However I would refer the Deputy to the range of statistical information pertaining to sex offenders contained in the significant Discussion Document on the matter which I published in January this year. Furthermore, the Probation Service is at present supervising 109 sex offenders of which 81 have served a custodial sentence prior to commencing supervision. Of the 109 persons under supervision, 22 have received a fully suspended sentence.

The Probation Service carries out formal risk assessments on offenders using validated risk assessment instruments. This informs both the level of supervision and the targets for intervention during supervision. Evidence from research indicates that the higher the level of risk, the greater the level of intervention required. Supervision levels therefore vary depending on the level of assessed risk. Supervision incorporates a multi agency and cross sectorial approach.

Additionally my Department, through the Probation Service, financially supports a broad range of community programmes to support the supervision process. For example, in partnership with the Granada Institute, the Probation Service runs the Lighthouse Sex Offender Treatment Programme. This is a therapeutic group work programme which aims to reduce the risk of re-offending. There are two group work programmes running currently in Dublin and one in Cork. The three programmes offer places to a total on 24 sex offenders at any one time.

The Discussion Document on the management of sex offenders alluded to above sets out a range of enhanced initiatives that will result in more strategic targeting of higher risk offenders by the Gardaí and the Probation Service with the full support of the Irish Prison Service. As part of the management of sex offenders I have asked my Department to examine how we might use electronic monitoring technology to monitor sex offenders during the first six months following release from prison. The Project Board set up to look at this matter - which is led by the Probation Service - is due to report to me in the coming months. In addition, my Department is also examining whether legislation will be necessary to supplement the existing enabling provisions in the Criminal Justice Acts 2006 and 2007 should a pilot phase of electronic monitoring be introduced in this jurisdiction for a specific group or groups of offenders, such as sex offenders.

The details of prisoners in custody under sentence for offences of a sexual nature on 5 June, 2009, are detailed in the following table.