Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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208. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated cost of every person on community service on a hourly and weekly basis. [31887/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that an examination by the Probation Service in 2013 of Community Service costs based on 2012 data showed the average cost of completion of a Community Service Order to be €1,500.

In 2013, there were 2,354 Community Service Orders made, with a total of just over 352,000 hours in lieu of a custodial sentence. Based on 2013 data, the average number of hours for each Community Service Order is approximately 150 hours.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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209. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who were sentenced to community service in the years 2012 and 2013 and the durations of same. [31888/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of statistics. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the number of persons who were sentenced to community service by the District Court in 2012 and 2013 was 2,266 and 2,076 respectively.

A breakdown of District Court sentences of community service is set out in the table below. It should be noted that the total periods of community service imposed in each year is greater than the number of persons sentenced, as individuals can be sentenced to two or more separate periods of community service.