Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the funding that has been made available for community dialogues and restorative justice programmes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26462/24]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Restorative justice is a process that evidence shows can support victims to recover from the impact of crime as well as serving to reduce reoffending. It is an integral part of the work of the Probation Service which established a Restorative Justice and Victim Services Unit in 2018. The process helps to identify and repair some of the harm caused by offending. Its value was recognised in the 2020 Programme for Government in which the Government committed to working with all criminal justice agencies to build capacity to deliver restorative justice, safely and effectively.

This commitment was carried forward in my Department’s Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, published two years ago, which contained a commitment to strengthen and support the delivery of restorative justice. This work resulted in my Department’s policy paper ‘Promoting and supporting the provision of Restorative Justice at all stages of the criminal justice system’. This paper brought together all of the work carried out since 2020 and identifies the steps needed to strengthen and expand our capability to mainstream restorative justice across all services in the criminal justice system.

Restorative justice is currently available at several different stages of the criminal justice process and in relation to various types of offence. This includes lower-tariff offences as part of diversion, as well as post-sentence, to help meet the needs of people impacted by some of the most serious offences.

In response to the Deputy, the Probation Service currently provides €787,770 in funding to five community-based organisations (CBOs) to provide dedicated restorative justice programmes.

The commitment to increasing the reach of restorative justice services has continued this year with an additional €250,000 earmarked in the funding provided to the Probation Service to further configure the network of CBOs to deliver enhanced restorative justice services. This is on top of funding of €65,000 provided to Restorative Justice in the Community to expand restorative justice services into the Midlands.

It is the Probation Service, through the Department, that allocates funding to CBOs and in particular, five community-based organisations provide dedicated restorative justice programmes:

• Restorative Justice Services - Dublin, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare
• Restorative Justice in the Community - Tipperary, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath
• Le Chéile - Limerick, Cork and Clare
• Cornmarket Project - Wexford
• Tuam Community Training Centre - Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon.