Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the recommendations made in the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, published in August 2022, are very much focused on the appropriate use of alternatives to detention, which in some instances, are more effective in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity.

As part of the work of implementing the recommendations of this review, my Department has undertaken a policy review of the previously published General Scheme of the Community Sanctions Bill. Following on from this, a revised General Scheme will be brought to Government in due course.

My Department has also commissioned researchers to engage with the District Court on the operation of the Community Service Act and produce a report on judicial insights and perspectives on that Act. The outcomes of this report will be considered in detail.

The Probation Service has statutory responsibility for the management of Community Service. The basic principle underpinning Community Service is that it is a community based sanction, which is a direct alternative to imprisonment. A Community Service Order requires people who have been convicted of offences to perform unpaid work for the benefit of the community. This is a form of payback to the community. It is an opportunity for offenders to acknowledge and repair, indirectly in most instances, some of the hurt, injury and harm caused to the community and their fellow citizens by their offending behaviour. Through this engagement in a workplace environment, Community Service sites support crime free life styles, build a personal skill base and develop a work ethic – all of which promote and support rehabilitation and help prevent reoffending.

In 2023, 1,595 Community Service Orders were managed, totalling more than 206,000 hours of work in lieu of 759 years in prison. This resulted in over €2.3m worth of unpaid work for the benefit of communities nationwide.

Directly supporting the recommendations of the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024, the Probation Service has also commissioned and completed a comprehensive review of Community Service. The resulting implementation plan, ‘Community Service New Directions’, is a three year project from 2024 -2026 with a goal of delivering Community Service as a robust sanction which supports a reduction in reoffending while promoting community payback and community integration. Some of the key objectives of the plan are: to increase the use of the community service order by the Courts to reduce short term imprisonment, to strengthen compliance and enforcement of the sanction consistently nationwide and to foster improvement in victim satisfaction levels.