Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if he has any plans to increase the use of community service within the criminal justice system. [35457/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I published a Value for Money and Policy Review of the operation of the Community Service Scheme last October. This independent review found that the Scheme was not being used to the extent that it had been in the past. Furthermore, it found that the Community Service Supervisors then employed, operating at full capacity, could provide supervision services to three times as many offenders as were then on Community Service Orders.

Based on this, and other recommendations contained in the review, the Probation Service of my Department is leading the drive to substantially increase the number of persons that could potentially be placed on Community Service. The Probation Service has restructured the delivery of Community Service nationally under the governance of a dedicated Community Service Unit and has piloted a new model of delivery of Community Service in the Dublin area between January and September 2010. The new centralised model incorporates new practices and modes of operation, new management systems, overall governance and work place utilisation. Arising from this focus I am glad to tell the Deputy that during the period of the pilot there has been an increase of 33% of throughput within the Dublin area. The intention is that this new model of Community Service will be rolled out nationwide thus allowing for the potential for increased use of Community Service within the Criminal Justice system as a disposal option by the Judiciary.

At the Deputy knows the most common non-custodial sanction used by the Courts, who are independent in the exercise of their functions, is the imposition of a fine. Specifically the recently enacted Fines Act, 2010 makes provision for the use of non-custodial options for the non-payment of fines such as Community Service in less serious cases.

I should also add that the most recently published Discussion Document of the White Paper on Crime series, 'Criminal Sanctions', included an examination of the use of non-custodial sanctions generally. Submissions on this Document were invited and in August 2010 my Department published reports of both the submissions received and a consultation seminar held in Dublin Castle on the 28 May 2010. The opinions received will all feed into the development of my future policy in this field. I expect that the present drive to encourage greater use of the Community Service will see more persons given such Orders as a disposal by the Courts exercising their functions independent of the Executive.